Since the beginning of the year, restrictive isolation measures have been implemented, relaxed, and re-enforced time and time again to populations around the world, struggling to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. While most occupied their time attempting to keep up with steady income, a flurry of everchanging rules and regulations, and the narrow window of opportunities presented to carry a normal life, the lengthy battle has left an unsettling outlook on the state of mental health.
Combinations of wage loss, job loss and bankruptcies have contributed to a profound impact on the state of mental health, and when examining the sub-par impacts of treatments available today, it was only a matter of time before innovative technologies became alarmingly demanded. With a recent shift of capital surging to the psychedelic biomedical industry, speculation can be made that the common consensus for viable treatment may lie within.
What Exactly Is a Psychedelic?
A psychedelic drug, or a hallucinogen, has been labelled as any mind-expanding substance that are able to induce states of altered perception and thought, frequently associated with heightened awareness of sensory input but with diminished control over what is being experienced. Common psychedelics typically provide users with an intense hallucinogenic effect, such as LSD, Psilocybin, Mescaline (Peyote), Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and Ibogaine. Other substances, such as MDMA can be classified as an empathogen, which gives a feeling of openness, empathy, and euphoria, along with mild audio and visual alterations. Although considered as a non-hallucinogen, Ketamine is commonly referred as a psychedelic given its dissociative characteristics.
For the sake of simplicity within the emerging sector, all listed substances will commonly be referred to as psychedelics due to the non-traditional medicinal qualities they portray to the common society. Although frequently perceived as dangerous, some of the psychedelic substances have proven to be innocuous. LSD and psilocybin have been documented as non-addictive and have a relatively low lethal dose rating. According to drug-harm experts, magic mushrooms, LSD, and Ecstasy rank among the four least harmful drugs when considering damage to health, drug dependency, economic burden, and crime. So why are these substances surrounded with negativity? One would be required to dust off the history books to find out.
Brief History of Psychedelics
The term “psychedelic”, meaning “mind manifesting”, was fabricated in 1956 by a British psychiatrist named Humphry Osmond. Naturally occurring psychedelics, such as psilocybin mushrooms, peyote and ayahuasca have been used by humans throughout the course of history. In 1938, a swiss chemist by the name of Albert Hoffman discovered lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) while attempting to synthesize a stimulant. LSD appeared to show little potential to support his thesis, so the drug was shelved. Half a decade later, Hoffman re-synthesized LSD but inadvertently absorbed some through his fingertip. His experience with the microdose lead to further experimentation with elevated doses upwards of 250mg, officially marking the first recorded LSD trip in history.
Mind-Expanding Drugs Sent Packing
In 1958, Hoffman and a group of associates isolated psilocybin from the Psilocybe Mexicana mushroom. They progressed a chemically synthesized version of the psilocybin, adding to its psychedelic distribution portfolio of free LSD treatments available for several mental disorders. Thousands of scientific papers were published between 1950 to 1965, however shortly after psychedelics had expanded out of the labs and into the public. In 1966, the FDA ordered that psychedelic research halt all work, psychedelic distribution was terminated, and California banned LSD.
The federal government followed suit shortly after in 1970, and by 1971 the UN created the Convention on Psychotropic Substances collecting signatures from 184 countries along the way. Infamously, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs in 1971, citing drug abuse as “public enemy number one”, effectively ending mainstream psychedelic research. Casual research on psychedelics continued, but no longer held status on other legal medicines, repugnant to meaningful investment of time and money.
Future of Treatment
Flash forward to current events, and the pressures of mental health have vaulted the positive effects of psychedelics to the forefront of an industry left with many meaningless antidotes. Governments are being forced to consider unconditional methods to satisfy the global mental health pandemic, and with the awakening of past publications of successful psychedelic research combined with a reduced stigma surrounding the declining list of illegal drugs, the realization of the immense capabilities within the sector is making its triumphant return, still awaiting its ceremonious introduction.
