Treating psychiatric disorders with psychedelic drugs
Psychedelic drugs could be used at low doses as a potential treatment for psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, according to a Perspective article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Psychedelics such as LSD, ketamine and psilocybin (the psychoactive component in ‘magic mushrooms’) may reduce clinical symptoms in people with various psychiatric disorders and in people with chronic pain. Recent neuroimaging data show that the drugs might achieve this by acting on the brain circuits and neurotransmitter systems (including serotonin and glutamate systems) that are known to be altered in people with depression and anxiety. The therapeutic
effects of psychedelics can occur at low doses that do not induce depersonalisation (psychological disintegration) or true hallucinations.
Research into the effects of psychedelics has long been restricted because of the negative connotations of the drugs, but the authors argue that more research into the clinical potential of these drugs is warranted. In addition, because the dissociative effects of psychedelic drugs resemble some of the symptoms of psychosis, the drugs could be used to study the brain basis of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.
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