You’re right, we should take this more seriously.
How did we miss this one?
Here at TMR we’ve kept a professional eye on the progress of research into psychedelics for indications such as anxiety, depression, OCD, substance use disorders and PTSD.
So we welcome what looks a bit like a throwback to psychiatry of the good old 1960s and 70s, before someone turned the lights on and sent everyone home.
Back in 2019 the US FDA approved the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) application for expanded access to MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.
In May, after a bit of a fight, the FDA also finally approved a study involving the use of MDMA by therapists themselves.
“Personal experience is widely considered to be an important element in preparation and training to deliver psychedelic-assisted therapies,” according to MAPS.
Oh, sure.
This study protocol was based on one from a decade before, which was in turn based on a study from the 1970s, in which Dr Albert Kurland’s LSD research team at Spring Grove Hospital in Maryland won FDA approval to give acid to “nurses, attendants and others working with patients in clinical studies, and to mental health professionals (doctors, therapists, counsellors, priests, rabbis) to help them better understand patients or congregants who had experienced LSD.
“Over 100 people received LSD in those training sessions.”
The Back Page wonders how many healthcare workers of that era volunteered to experience ECT and deep-sleep therapy firsthand.
If you see science that makes you want to dance, tell felicity@medicalrepublic.com.au.
