Psychedelic drugs may launch a new era in psychiatric treatment, brain scientists say

Mito · Jan 1, 2023

One-and-done treatment?

Brain plasticity may explain why a single dose of a psychedelic drug can have a long-lasting impact on disorders like anxiety, depression and PTSD.

"It can be months or years," says Dr. Gitte Knudsen a neurologist from University of Copenhagen in Denmark who spoke at the psychedelics session. "It's a stunning effect."

These long-term effects have been shown with drugs including psilocybin, LSD and DMT (ayahuasca), Knudsen says. In contrast, most existing psychiatric drugs need to be taken every day.

But psychedelic drugs have some drawbacks. They can cause nausea or produce hallucinations that are frightening or unpleasant.

"It can be a quite overwhelming experience to people," Knudsen says. "And for that reason, you need to prepare them for that, and you also need to be with them while they are in the experience."

Even when patients are well prepared for a session, Knudsen says, they may have mixed feelings afterward.

"When people have been through a psychedelic experience in my lab, they say, 'Wow this was amazing, this was just a fantastic experience,'" she says. "And you ask them, 'Well, would you like to come back next week for another session?' They say, 'Thank you, but no thank you.' "