Psychedelic therapy is having a big moment in the media lately, and you might wonder whether it’s a trend or a lasting change that we’ll see take hold in the future. Psychedelics have always been part of the counterculture for their association with flower-children and Woodstock. As of the last ten years, psychedelics have been undergoing a major rebrand. Check out our breakdown of why psychedelic therapy is a lasting new change in the world of therapy.
Psychedelic therapy is no longer just a theory; we now have a burgeoning body of research to back up what counterculture figures like Terence McKenna had been saying all along. There was once a time when scientists could research these substances in the 50s and early 60s before they became famous for recreational use. After they became a staple of the hippy ethos of the late 60s and 70s, psychedelics got the red-tape from the government and were barred from being researched. Psychedelics might still be fighting their bad reputation for being an assistant to good-times at a concert, but their proponents were right all along — psychedelics have significant therapeutic benefits.
The FDA changed its stance on psychedelics and designated one psychedelic — psilocybin — as a breakthrough therapy in treating depression, allowing for it to be studied. Clinical trials have now been conducted to explore the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics, such as mescaline and LSD. The research conducted has shown that psychedelics are promising in the treatment of a whole range of pressing issues such as depression, PTSD, alcohol dependence, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and even autism.
What makes psychedelic therapy so unique and exciting is the way they allow patients to shift away from dependence on strong medications. Some medications used for treating illnesses like obsessive-compulsive disorder can take their own toll on the body in different ways and may require a lifetime of use. Psychedelic therapy can replace dependence on medications without needing continued use to do so. This opens up an entirely new world of treatment for some of the most debilitating and complex health struggles in our time.
If you are inspired by all this incredible news about the promising future of psychedelic therapy, don’t hesitate to get involved! Check out organizations like MAPS who are devoted to increasing funding for psychedelic research to bring these significant healing treatments to the people who need them sooner.