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G_j

(40,367 posts) Mon Sep 8, 2014, 06:28 PM Sep 2014

Psychedelics And PTSD

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/08/lsd-is-ready-for-a-comeback.html

Psychedelics Are Ready for a Comeback

In his new book Acid Test, author Tom Shroder tells the story of Nick, a veteran haunted by PTSD. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Shroder explains why psychedelics are so important to veterans, and the roadblocks researchers face getting it to them.

LSD, an illicit drug with a serious stigma, was once the darling of the psychotherapy world.

Synthesized by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in 1938, the two decades following its birth were populated with study after study showing positive effects. With its ability to reduce defensiveness, help users relive early experiences, and make unconscious material accessible, it proved tremendously successful in therapy.

In a plethora of studies from the 1950s, researchers found the drug, and other psychedelics in its family, to be successful in treating victims of psychosomatic illnesses ranging from depression to addiction. With fear and hesitation stripped away, psychologists could help their patients dive headfirst into a painful memory, feeling, or thought, and work through it. For some, it sped up a process of awakening that may have taken years. For others, it opened a door that may never have been found otherwise.

Nowhere are the negative effects of psychedelics' fate more pronounced than in the story of America’s veterans. Of the many illnesses for which the psychedelic-assisted therapy showed promise, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was one of the most profound. An estimated 500,000 Iraq-Afghanistan military veterans are suffering from PTSD, an excruciating illness that is believed to fuel the estimated 20 suicides that result from that demographic per day. In FDA sanctioned studies using MDMA-assisted therapy to treat veterans with PTSD, the success rate has been astounding. Why has no one noticed?

..more..

8 replies

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Psychedelics And PTSD (Original Post) G_j Sep 2014 OP

Makes me wonder... Cirque du So-What Sep 2014 #1

Well, having taken quite a bit of acid/mushrooms/peyote SomethingFishy Sep 2014 #2

Anything in large doses can be a problem. Marijuana and alcohol in large doses cause problems. But Chathamization Sep 2014 #3

Um, so first you got there the easy way, and then having learned how to get there, Warren Stupidity Sep 2014 #4

Nah not a boomer and I do believe that it could help some people... SomethingFishy Sep 2014 #8

Psychedelic mushrooms put your brain in a “waking dream,” study finds True Earthling Sep 2014 #5

Nice to see this recognized G_j Sep 2014 #6

The key to curing PTSD is to create new neural connections. LSD does this. McCamy Taylor Sep 2014 #7

Cirque du So-What

(25,941 posts)

1. Makes me wonder...

Reply to G_j (Original post)

Mon Sep 8, 2014, 06:54 PM

Sep 2014

The proliferation of LSD in the '60s coincided with veterans returning from Vietnam. Could it have been an attempt at self-medication for PTSD - even if it was unknowingly?

SomethingFishy

(4,876 posts)

2. Well, having taken quite a bit of acid/mushrooms/peyote

Reply to G_j (Original post)

Mon Sep 8, 2014, 07:13 PM

Sep 2014

I am kind of an expert on the subject.

"For some, it sped up a process of awakening that may have taken years"

There is my problem. In the course of my personal psychedelic experience, I learned that you can reach the same state of mind without the drug through other more disciplined means, like meditation To achieve this state of consciousness without the discipline it takes to get there could be dangerous for some people. It takes a fairly solid mind to handle that much truth all at once. I'm not sure PTSD cases are the best to have their mind freed like that.. Maybe in much smaller doses that I was used to...

Chathamization

(1,638 posts)

3. Anything in large doses can be a problem. Marijuana and alcohol in large doses cause problems. But

Reply to SomethingFishy (Reply #2)

Mon Sep 8, 2014, 07:51 PM

Sep 2014

research seems to indicate that psychedelics in moderate to low dosages can be good for treating some pretty nasty stuff, and beneficial to people in general.

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)

4. Um, so first you got there the easy way, and then having learned how to get there,

Reply to SomethingFishy (Reply #2)

Mon Sep 8, 2014, 09:12 PM

Sep 2014

you were able to use the hard way effectively, but you would deny this path to others?

And, while preliminary research on the use of MDMA for treatment of PTSD was positive, you don't think it is appropriate for these sorts of people to "have their mind freed like that".

Sort of a hypocritical attitude. Are you a boomer? My generation seems to think basically that nobody else should get to do all the shit they did.

SomethingFishy

(4,876 posts)

8. Nah not a boomer and I do believe that it could help some people...

Reply to Warren Stupidity (Reply #4)

Tue Sep 9, 2014, 01:31 PM

Sep 2014

But in my time I have known people who did not do real well with psychedelics. I don't want to deny the path to anyone, but I think people should know things could go either way.

True Earthling

(832 posts)

5. Psychedelic mushrooms put your brain in a “waking dream,” study finds

Reply to G_j (Original post)

Mon Sep 8, 2014, 09:19 PM

Sep 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/07/03/psychedelic-drugs-put-your-brain-in-a-waking-dream-study-finds/

Psychedelic mushrooms can do more than make you see the world in kaleidoscope. Research suggests they may have permanent, positive effects on the human brain.

In fact, a mind-altering compound found in some 200 species of mushroom is already being explored as a potential treatment for depression and anxiety. People who consume these mushrooms, after "trips" that can be a bit scary and unpleasant, report feeling more optimistic, less self-centered, and even happier for months after the fact.

“The way we treat psychological illnesses now is to dampen things,” he said. “We dampen anxiety, dampen ones emotional range in the hope of curing depression, taking the sting out of what one feels.”

But some patients seem to benefit from having their emotions “unlocked” instead. “It would really suit the style of psychotherapy where we engage in a patient’s history and hang-ups,” Carhart-Harris said. “Instead of putting a bandage over the exposed wound, we’d be essentially loosening their minds—promoting a permanent change in outlook.”

G_j

(40,367 posts)

6. Nice to see this recognized

Reply to True Earthling (Reply #5)

Mon Sep 8, 2014, 10:42 PM

Sep 2014

in the WP. It's a field with great promise. Good article.

McCamy Taylor

(19,240 posts)

7. The key to curing PTSD is to create new neural connections. LSD does this.

Reply to G_j (Original post)

Mon Sep 8, 2014, 11:11 PM

Sep 2014

PTSD is the body's way of preventing harm by teaching us automatic fight or flight at a certain "danger" cue. But when the "danger cue" is no longer needed, we are left with the circuit that will not go away. There are lots of ways to create new circuits to overwrite the old ones--meditation, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy. Mind altering drugs are one of many methods and are probably quicker and easier to use.

Here's to the VA---I am willing to bet that they will break the taboo, because they really want to see the epidemic of PTSD cured.

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