The LSD Therapy Career of Jan Bastiaans, M.D. Stephen Snelders Newsletter of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, MAPS : 1998, Vol 8, N° 1, pp. 18-20 JAN BASTIAANS WAS 23 YEARS OLD and a medical student at the University of Amsterdam when the German army invaded the Netherlands. The German occupation (1940-1945) had a lasting influence on his life and work. The first aim of Bastiaans' use of LSD and psilocybin in psychotherapy was to help victims of World War II: the survivors of the war who had become extremely traumatized by their experiences in the German and Japanese prisons and concentration [...]
Lire la suiteChronic, Intermittent Microdoses of the Psychedelic N,N‑Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) Produce Positive Effects on Mood and Anxiety in Rodents Lindsay P. Cameron, Charlie J. Benson, Brian C. DeFelice, Oliver Fiehn, and David E. Olson ACS Chemical Neurosciences, 2019 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00692 ABSTRACT : Drugs capable of ameliorating symptoms of depression and anxiety while also improving cognitive function and sociability are highly desirable. Anecdotal reports have suggested that serotonergic psychedelics administered in low doses on a chronic, intermittent schedule, so-called “microdosing”, might produce beneficial effects on mood, anxiety, cognition, and social interaction. Here, we test this hypothesis by subjecting male and female Sprague Dawley rats to behavioral testing following the [...]
Lire la suiteThe tripping point : The potential role of psychedelic-assisted therapy in the response to the opioid crisis Elena Argento, Kenneth W. Tupper, M. Eugenia Socias International Journal of Drug Policy, 2019, 66, 80–81 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.11.006 0955-3959/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved A B S T R A C T The increasing contamination of the drug supply with illicitly manufactured fentanyl and related analogs in North America has resulted in the most severe drug-overdose crisis in history. Available pharmaco-therapy options for the treatment of opioid use disorder have had limited success in curbing the current crisis, and a growing body of evidence highlights the need for [...]
Lire la suitePotential Psychiatric Uses for MDMA B.B. Yazar-Klosinski and M.C. Mithoefer CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, 2017, 101, 2 www.wileyonlinelibrary/cpt doi:10.1002/cpt.565 Phase II trials of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)- assisted psychotherapy have demonstrated initial safety and efficacy for treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with potential for expansion to depression and anxiety disorders. In these trials, single doses of MDMA are administered in a model of medication-assisted psychotherapy, differing from trials involving daily drug administration without psychotherapy. This model presents an opportunity to utilize accelerated regulatory pathways, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Breakthrough Therapy Designation, to most effectively and expeditiously test such novel approaches. BACKGROUND MDMA-assisted [...]
Lire la suitePrescribing Health Care Providers’ Attitudes, Experiences, and Practices Surrounding Cannabis Use in Patients with Anxiety Disorders and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Jake Rosenberg, Mallory J.E. Loflin, Yasmin L. Hurd, and Marcel O. Bonn-Miller Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, 2019, Volume 4, Number 2, DOI: 10.1089/can.2018.0008 Abstract Background : Preliminary evidence suggests that certain cannabinoids may be beneficial for the treatment of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is unclear whether prescribing health care professionals view medicinal cannabis as a safe and effective option for treatment of these disorders. Methods : Three hundred fifty-two prescribing health care professionals across the United States completed an online survey assessing [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelic Cuts Cravings, Consumption in Alcohol Use Disorder Pauline Anderson Medscape, May 23, 2019 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/913422?src=wnl_tp10n_190711_mscpedit&uac=292598PZ&impID=2023688&faf=1 SAN FRANCISCO — Just two doses of the psychedelic drug psilocybin, taken over a period of 8 weeks, significantly reduced alcohol use and cravings in patients with alcohol use disorder, preliminary findings show. In the first study to use modern clinical trial design to investigate the effects of a hallucinogen in alcohol-dependent patients, investigators at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine in New York City found that use of psilocybin was significantly associated with fewer drinking days and fewer drinks per day, as well fewer cravings. Dr Kelley Clark O'Donnell "Psychedelic [...]
Lire la suiteCan 3,4,-methylenedioxymethamphetamine therapy be used to treat alcohol use disorder ? Ben SESSA Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2017, 1, (1), pp. 1–9 DOI: 10.1556/2054.01.2016.003 Treating people with alcohol use disorder has been an important target area for psychedelic research – both in the first studies of the 1950s and during the Psychedelic Renaissance of the last 10 years. To date, most studies have looked at the classical psychedelic drugs as adjuncts to psychotherapy; with attention paid to the psychospiritual aspect of the experience as a central therapeutic process in effecting abstinence from drinking. Psychotherapy assisted with 3,4,-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has never been explored for treating [...]
Lire la suiteThe link between childhood trauma and dissociation in frequent users of classic psychedelics and dissociatives Sascha B. Thal, Judith K. Daniels & Henrik Jungaberle Journal of Substance Use, may 2019 https://doi.org/10.1080/14659891.2019.1614234 ABSTRACT Background : Childhood trauma severity is associated with the level of subsequent substance use as well as with the self-reported severity of dissociation. Classic psychedelics and dissociatives target neurotransmitter systems thought to be involved in the onset of dissociative symptoms and may evoke severe and long-lasting symptoms of depersonalization in some users. However, it is currently unclear whether drug use puts people with a history of childhood trauma at higher risk of developing [...]
Lire la suiteEffects of Schedule I drug laws on neuroscience research and treatment innovation. Nutt D.J., King L.A., Nichols D.E. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2013, 14, 577-585 DOI : 10.1038/nrn3530 Abstract Many psychoactive drugs are used recreationally, particularly by young people. This use and its perceived dangers have led to many different classes of drugs being banned under national laws and international conventions. Indeed, the possession of cannabis, 3,4‑methylenedioxy- N‑methyl-amphetamine (MDMA; also known as ecstasy) and psychedelics is stringently regulated. An important and unfortunate outcome of the controls placed on these and other psychoactive drugs is that they make research into their mechanisms of action and potential therapeutic [...]
Lire la suiteEDITORIAL Should addiction researchers be interested in psychedelic science ? Stephen Bright, Martin Williams & David Caldicott Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs, Drug and Alcohol Review, 2017 DOI: 10.1111/dar.12544 As recently noted by Strauss, Bright and Williams [1], while much of the Western world has been experiencing a renaissance in research into ‘psychedelic science’ over the past decade [2], there has been no such research conducted in Australia. In Europe and the USA, studies have been conducted into lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that have improved our understanding of brain function [3] and reduced existential anxiety associated with dying [4], while psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy has [...]
Lire la suite