Psychedelics..……… The new magic drug for depression?
In the past few years, it should be no surprise that depression and suicide rates in the United States have been on the rise. Depression among adults in the United States tripled in 2020—jumping from 8.5 percent before the pandemic to a staggering 27.8 percent. In 2021, depression affected one in three Americans (Boston School of Public Health). As depression rises, researchers are also exploring new treatments and examining how depression changes the neurotransmitters in the brain.
A past client of mine has struggled with depression for the past twenty years. He has tried psychotropic medications, behavioral health interventions, DBT groups, and talk therapy. While working together, his suicidal thoughts were not subsiding and through the recommendation of his psychiatrist, he began Ketamine injections. It changed his life and our work together. Ketamine was the catalyst for us to do the deeper trauma work.
In 2019, FDA approved a nasal spray of ketamine and an IV infusion for adults with treatment-resistant depression. Ketamine targets the NMDA receptors in the brain and affects the mood, thought patterns, and cognition of folks with depression. Ketamine, unlike anti-depressants, act immediately to alleviate suicidal thoughts and depressive symptoms (Harvard Medical School).
Psilocybin, also known as the magic mushroom, are also as effective in treating depression as common antidepressants (New England Journal of Medicine). A compound found in so-called magic mushrooms, psilocybin produces visual and auditory hallucinations and profound changes in consciousness over a few hours after ingestion. These experiences can change the neuropathways of the brain. In a study of adults with major depression, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that two doses of the psychedelic substance psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms, with most participants showing improvement and half of study participants achieving remission through the four-week follow-up (JAMA Psychiatry).
Several states are slowly relaxing the laws to allow for psychedelics as a treatment for depression and the FDA has approved clinical trials for psilocybin. This new research is energizing for those who struggle with treatment resistant depression. If you are someone who struggles with treatment resistant depression, please talk with your psychiatrist and therapist about these promising interventions for healing.
