By Oliver Burkeman — 2018
Pollan’s illuminating history of hallucinogenic drugs reveals that their mystical and medical benefits are indivisible.
Read on www.theguardian.com
CLEAR ALL
Many are talking about the “commodification of psychedelics” or the “new psychedelic businesses” or “corporations”; however, this boom is affecting all areas of our field.
Society has started to become more accepting of our work and MAPS’ goal of mainstreaming psychedelic medicine seems closer than ever to being achieved,” explains MAPS Policy and Advocacy Director Natalie Ginsberg, M.S.W., in an interview with Jessica Semaan of Seismic Sisters.
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In an appropriate context, ayahuasca can be a valuable therapeutic tool and can act as a catalyst that can render psychotherapeutic processes more effective in less time, and sometimes allow for critical interventions when several other therapeutic strategies have been unsuccessful.
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Badass women making waves in the psychedelic movement, from research to drug policy reform.
The first randomized controlled trial to compare the illicit psychedelic psilocybin with a conventional selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant found that the former improved symptoms of depression just as well on an established metric—and had fewer side effects.
Though researchers are still trying to understand the cognitive and therapeutic mechanics of psychedelics, they have concluded that psilocybin, DMT and other psychoactive chemicals can help people feel more tolerance, understanding and empathy.
After decades of demonization and criminalization, psychedelic drugs are on the cusp of entering mainstream psychiatry, with profound implications for a field that in recent decades has seen few pharmacological advancements for the treatment of mental disorders and addiction.
In an important step toward medical approval, MDMA, the illegal drug popularly known as Ecstasy or Molly, was shown to bring relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder when paired with talk therapy.
The exuberant “renaissance” of studies researching psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in the past twenty years has not sufficiently included the enrollment of racially diverse participants, a problem that psychedelic science and clinical research shares with mainstream psychiatry
Amazonian healing traditions collide with Western medical sensibilities.