Name: Can magic mushrooms, MDMA be used to treat anxiety, PTSD?
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Can magic mushrooms, MDMA be used to treat anxiety, PTSD?

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Can the active ingredient in magic mushrooms help treat anxiety? Researchers want to knowWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementAustralia is embarking on one of the world’s largest studies into the use of psychedelic drugs for mental health, with Melbourne researchers preparing to launch a world-first clinical trial investigating whether psilocybin – the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms" – can help treat people suffering severe persistent anxiety.A second trial will assess the role of MDMA – "ecstasy" – in helping patients with intractable post-traumatic stress disorder.The trials, sponsored by Monash University, will boost Australia’s standing in the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted therapy, a radical new treatment model in which therapists administer a high dose of a potent mind-altering drug as part of a program of psychotherapy sessions.They follow this year’s launch of Australia’s first approved trial of psychedelic-assisted therapy at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, treating palliative care patients with psilocybin to try to reduce intense anxiety and depression.The chief principal investigator of the new trials, Monash research fellow Paul Liknaitzky, said current approaches to mental illness had failed many patients, with only about half responding to available treatments – psychological or pharmacological – and most relapsing when treatment stopped.The largest of the studies will investigate whether a synthetic version of magic mushrooms can safely and effectively treat generalised anxiety disorder, a condition thought to affect about 6 per cent of Australians at some point in their lives. Symptoms include prolonged, disproportionate, sometimes debilitating worry that can affect relationships and jobs, as well as causing ongoing distress.Until now, Dr Liknaitzky said, there had been no trials of psilocybin as a specific treatment for anxiety disorders. But he said smaller US studies using psilocybin therapy to counter existential distress in terminal care patients had shown striking reductions in anxiety and depression among participants.The anxiety disorder trial will include more than 70 patients who will receive about three months of tailored psychotherapy sessions interspersed with several psilocybin “dosing sessions” – essentially controlled psychedelic trips that alter consciousness, thought patterns and perception and can elicit intense sensations, imagery, emotions and insights.AdvertisementIt will be funded by Australian pharmaceutical development company Incannex Healthcare, which is also developing medicinal cannabis treatments for conditions including traumatic brain injury. Dr Liknaitzky said the agreement would ensure the Monash investigating team could guarantee rigorous trial and treatment protocols and the disclosure of unbiased results.Dr Liknaitzky said that unlike other drug treatments that aimed to manage distressing symptoms, psychedelic-assisted therapy appeared to lower psychological defences, allowing people to access experiences, perspectives and memories that were usually unavailable to them, and potentially to gain new perspectives and to connect with their own emotions and values.He emphasised the central role of preparatory and follow-up therapy, as well as of the physical setting, which can influence the quality of the psychedelic experience.“A lot of people are inclined to think about it as a drug treatment, as a chemo-therapeutic treatment, whereas it's really a combination of drug and talk therapy within a conducive setting.”The MDMA trial will likewise employ a hybrid drug and psychotherapy model to treat 25 participants suffering severe PTSD. The trial is philanthropically funded, primarily by consultant psychiatrist and psychedelic medicine researcher Nigel Strauss. He has seen the corrosive impact of severe PTSD on patients including those involved in Tasmania’s 1996 Port Arthur Massacre and Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.Dr Strauss said that MDMA, while not a classic psychedelic, encouraged empathy and reduced anxiety, allowing people to process otherwise inaccessible trauma. “It basically lowers your anxiety levels without sedating you, so you can go into the bad memories comfortably.”In 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration designated MDMA therapy for PTSD a “breakthrough therapy”. This happens when preliminary clinical evidence suggests a drug may substantially improve on available therapies for a serious condition, and is worth fast-tracking.One in four Australian military veterans will be diagnosed with PTSD.This week’s Melbourne announcement opens the way for researchers on both trials to begin preparatory work needed to obtain ethics approval before starting to recruit subjects in 2021. Dr Liknaitzky said Australia still lagged well behind the US, UK and Europe in psychedelic research and funding but that the new trials were “a big step forward”.About 100 psychedelic trials are now underway worldwide for the treatment of conditions including major depression, PTSD, addiction, anorexia obsessive compulsive disorder. In November, Oregon became the first US state to vote to legalise psilocybin for therapeutic use.If you or anyone you know needs support call 131 114, or 1300 224 636.The most important news, analysis and insights delivered to your inbox at the start and end of each day. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald’s newsletter , The Age’s newsletter , Brisbane Times' and WAtoday's .Log in, or to save articles for later.Advertisement

Can the active ingredient in magic mushrooms help treat anxiety? Researchers want to knowWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementAustralia is embarking on one of the world’s largest studies into the use of psychedelic drugs for mental health, with Melbourne researchers preparing to launch a world-first clinical trial investigating whether psilocybin – the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms" – can...

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Can magic mushrooms, MDMA be used to treat anxiety, PTSD?

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