Psychotherapy Treatment

7 of my patients who experienced depression made more improvement with E, than with years of therapy and other anti-depressive drugs." (British Medical Journal by Dr. Green Hancock). Drugs are harmful to the human mind, and body in many ways, it is also capable of preventing the body, and mind in fully developing. There are many types of drugs, there are drugs that slow you down, drugs that speed you up, and hallucinogens. Hallucinogenic drugs are substances that distort the perception of objective reality. The most well-known hallucinogens include phencyclidine, otherwise know as PCP, lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD or acid, and psilocybin, or "magic" mushrooms. Under the influence of hallucinogens, the senses of direction, distance, and time become disoriented. You see sound and hear light. These drugs can produce unpredictable, erratic, and violent behavior in users that sometimes leads to serious injuries or death. Drowning's, burns, falls, and automobile crashes have also been reported. Some physical risks include mangled, and unclear speech, decreased awareness of touch and pain, convulsion, coma, heart, and lung failure. Psychological risks associated with using hallucinogens is depression, anxiety, paranoia, confusion, loss of control, and flashbacks. Marijuana is chemotherapeutic drug. This means that it can be used to treat certain types of cancer. The point of these past sentences is to make

The article discusses research on the use of hallucinogens for medical therapies applicable to cancer, drug addiction, and psychological problems. Studies being undertaken at Johns Hopkins University are discussed. Johns Hopkins' research on hallucinogens includes assessment of the drug's psychospiritual effects among volunteers and its use in easing psychiatric and behavioral disorders in those so affected.

Throughout human history people have sought experiences that somehow transcend every day life. Some sort of wisdom that might progress their knowledge of self and of the world that they live in. For some reason they believed that the tangible world just could not be all there is to life. Some believed in a greater force that controlled them, some believed of invisible beings that influenced their lives, some of an actual other world that paralleled their own. Many of these people also believed that it was possible to catch a glimpse of these forces, beings, or worlds through a variety of means that propel individuals into altered states of consciousness. These techniques include

“Hallucinations and voices that caused schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders have been stopped with the use of new medications”. (MHT, 2) “Just as aspirin can reduce a fever without curing the infection that causes it, psychotherapeutic medications act by controlling symptoms,” (MFMI, 4). “Another advantage of these medications is an increased understanding of the causes of mental illness. Scientists investigate the results of the medications, and through these results, they have learned a great deal about the working of the brain system.” (MFMI, 4) The use of new drugs has made it possible for mentally ill persons to live a normal life.

Thesis: There are many misconceptions about magic mushrooms, but I believe that they could be incredibly important for the future treatment of mental health.

In his article “Psychedelic Psychotherapy: The Ethics of Medicine for the Soul,” Brian Anderson supports the use of psychedelics in transpersonal psychotherapy, a new field of mental illness treatment using psychology instead of medicine. More specifically, he recalls from scientific studies that psychedelics are capable of altering a person’s states of consciousness. According to Anderson,

Although prescribed use of psilocybin is rare nowadays for medicinal purposes; many tests have been done on its medicinal uses in patients with personality disorders. Some tests have shown a noticeable reduction in obsessive compulsive disorder as a result of psilocybin use. Psilocybin has also been tested and is sometimes administered to cancer patients and has been proven to ease mental stress and the emotional baggage caused by cancer by changing the patient’s perspective on his/her situation and life in general. This compound has also been proven to reduce the pain resulting from cluster headaches in 85 % of patients tested and distanced the frequency of the attacks in 96% of patients.

Anxiety and depression give into the power of the potent psilocybin. Emerging studies show the incredible therapeutic experience of psilocybin with sustained treatment. In a study at the New York University, in a study of psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression, one patient described the experience saying, “Magic mushrooms trump Xanax resoundingly. Rather than getting rid of one’s anxiety, Xanax just numbs it until the medication’s effects wear off. At that point another pill is required. In his words “you’re not taking it and it solves your problem. You take it and you solve your problem yourself.” Prescription drugs often exacerbate one’s condition or manifest an addiction to the drug prescribed. These drugs are costly and toxic to the body; psilocybin is free and is proving to be unhazardous to health in recent studies. (Westlund

In the late 2000s the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, MAPS, received permission from the FDA to run their own MDMA-assisted therapy trials. The results were so incredible that it became the most downloaded article in 2010. Even though patients and data support the use of MDMA-assisted therapy, there is still opposition. A previous MAPS attempt at trials is seen in the article “MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Using Low Doses in a Small Sample of Women with Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” which specifically states “political pressures led to the closing of the study before it could be finished” (Buoso 1.) It was extremely devastating because nothing went wrong, and they had very promising data. It is hard to believe that people with power felt threatened enough by the research to force the trials to end. With a growing PTSD epidemic in America, I feel that MDMA-assisted therapy is extremely promising and the side effects are nowhere near as bad as the present medication used to treat disorder.

Newer treatments for schizophrenia symptom management focus on both the DA and the 5-HT systems in an attempt to alleviate positive, negative and cognitive symptoms (Leucht et al., 2009; Leucht, Wahlbeck, Hamann, & Kissling, 2003). The 5-HT hypothesis of schizophrenia arose from toxicologic explanations of mental illness that were popular in the 1950s (Osmond, 1958). Toxicologic explanations received their inspiration from the observation that exogenous substances could produce effects that resemble certain signs and symptoms of mental illness, such as hallucinations (Osmond, 1958). The 5-HT hypothesis arose based on the observation that hallucinogenic-effects, such as those seen with LSD administration, are mediated by 5-HT agonism, and hence, schizophrenia symptoms likely arise from a similar mechanism (Baumeister & Hawkins, 2004). However, in the 1970s, the 5-HT hypothesis of schizophrenia was almost completely replaced by the DA hypothesis, only making a comeback later with the proven effectiveness of the atypical antipsychotics, such as clozapine (Baumeister & Hawkins, 2004).

Johnson at the John Hopkins School for Medicine took ten men and five women who had been smoking cigarettes for many years and have failed to quit and gave them psilocybin, the psychoactive substance found in a certain type of mushroom. 6 months after taking the mushrooms, 80% of the subjects had quit smoking while 30% of the people reported it as being one of the most important and beneficial experiences they ever had (JHU). In addition to psilocybins ability to help with curing addiction, a study published by the Journal of the Royal Society Interface showed its beneficial effects on people who suffer from depression. M.R.I scans were done on people with depression while under the influence of psilocybin. Parts of the brain that are believed to be responsible for overactivity in those who are depressed were shown to have slown down while other parts of the brain responsible for the release of endorphins were more active. Thus, allowing for the personal evaluation of one's own subconscious mind to work out their issues and look at their disorder while in a positive mindset, helping to improve overall happiness and

There are many issues and complications with the current legal system in place that prevent many substances and their chemical makeup to be considered illegal under the Schedules of Controlled Substance Act. With no known medical use under Schedule One, they cannot be utilized in the medicinal field for treatment of many mental disorders. In specific to psychoactive mushrooms and their active chemicals psilocybin and psilocin, there are many misconceptions about the effects of the drug mostly in part because of the counter-culture of the 1960s and 1970s commonly associated with them. A laboratory produced prescription drug with the intended effect of acting as a serotonin analogue can be mimicked instead with the chemical psilocybin. Psilocybin

The Central Intelligence Agency and various military agencies also became interested in LSD research in the late 1950’s (Dye, 1992, p.410.) Their interest in the drug was in the area of mind control. They saw the possibility of manipulating of manipulating the beliefs of strong willed people. They gave the drug to a group of army scientists and then attempted to change some of their basic beliefs while under the influence of the drug. However, one of the scientists became psychotic and committed suicide by jumping from a hotel window. These agencies continued their research by using drug addicts and prostitutes to test their mind control theories. After extensive experimentation, it became apparent that LSD could alter LSD the mind but not control it. The United States government discontinued this sort of research. Up until today, the Food and Drug Administration have never approved LSD. This strong hallucinageous drug remains only as research and medical

An individual’s behavior and emotion becomes chemically altered often resulting in dependency, aggression, onset of diseases and poor judgement. This poses a dangerous threat to the neurotransmitters since they have multiple jobs in different parts of the brain. Drugs of abuse are able to exert influence over the brain reward pathway either by directly influencing the action of dopamine within the system, or by altering the activity of other neurotransmitters that exert a modulatory influence over this pathway. These drugs are often powerful and have been known to trigger schizophrenic behavior and can also cause a person to cease breathing, for example hallucinogens such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin are able to artificially stimulate the serotonin receptor (Sapolsky, 2005).

The focus of the experiment was on the inward reflection that transpires while undergoing the psychoactive affects of the substance. The researches conducted the experiment in an ideal environment for the participants to counter any potential adverse affects. Overall, the experiences the subjects went through were so vivid and profound the positive affects were sustained long after the experiment concluded. Structured interviews followed-up the subject’s experiences and all information and affects were verified. The substantial and enduring affects of psilocybin have been shown in cigarette smokers seeking discontinuation, cancer patients suffering from depression and anxiety due to life ending distress, and even in the enhancement of long-term meditators mystical experiences.