Drug mushrooms against mental illness? This is behind the new US trend

In Germany, too, experts are considering psychedelics as a therapy option. For example, experts from the Berlin Charité Clinic and the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim are working on a study that examines the effectiveness and safety of psilocybin in depression therapy. The so-called “EPIsoDE Study” aims to advance psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

The substances are said to profoundly change perception, emotional experience and consciousness “Doctor’s Journal”. Several pilot studies had shown a rapid and long-lasting effect on depression, anxiety disorders and substance use disorders.

The federal government also supports the study. However, it remains to be seen whether and when the funds will be widely used in this country. According to the authors, the study should be completed in 2024.

The use of the anesthetic and painkiller ketamine is more advanced. Also known as a party drug. In people with therapy-resistant depression, under certain conditions it can be administered intravenously, under the skin or, since the end of 2019, as a nasal spray (then as esketamine). The advantage is that the effect occurs quickly. As a result of the gift, patients are virtually disconnected from their environment for a while.

“We have had amazing success with ketamine in those affected. I see it as a valuable addition to the therapeutic options,” says Andreas Reif, Director of the Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University Hospital in Frankfurt. “But such therapies must always be embedded in an overall psychiatric treatment.”

In other words, you should never think of a self-directed drug trip as a simple solution to complex psychological problems. On the contrary. That could backfire. Self-experiments increasingly appeared on portals such as YouTube, reports Koslowski from the Charité. That is considered very risky. Imitators ran the risk of suffering dangerous complications: anxiety reactions, psychoses, accidents and risks to the heart, for example if too much is taken or a mixture of several substances is taken.

According to current knowledge, the substances are not a savior for all patients, says Reif, who is on the board of the German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Neurology (DGPNN). “But you shouldn’t demonize them either. We should be happy about every additional drug that we have available.” From Reif’s point of view, further psychedelics should be added in the future for use in the psychiatric field. Experts say that with psilocybin, for example, it will still be a question of several years.