Psychedelics Can Help with Which Severe Mental Health Disorders?

Which Severe Mental Disorders Can Psychedelics Help With?

Severe mental illnesses refer to conditions that leave the patient with significant functional impairment and extreme symptoms. Sometimes, these may include serious symptoms such as psychosis, which can have harmful consequences if they aren’t diagnosed and treated early on.

Common treatments for serious mental health disorders vary; they usually include a combination of somatic and psychotherapeutic treatments. When it comes to medications, these can include antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and anti-anxiety medications. Severe cases of depression may require neurofeedback, and other brain stimulation therapies to work. Until now, there is no one-size fits-all solution for mental health disorder treatments; many patients usually find success, if any, in using a combination of therapies for many years – sometimes, for life.

In fact, many patients even develop a tolerance to medications. This can make it difficult to find drugs that work, yet even then, most medications come with unwanted side effects.

But the rise of psychedelic use has brought about promise for those struggling with mental health problems, and their families. No other medication can induce psychological and neurobiological changes the way psychedelics can, thereby improving cognitive function and emotional processing. Psychedelics activate serotonin receptors, enhance neuroplasticity, and disrupt the default mode networks that cause rigid thinking and worsen depression. Because of this, psychedelics are considered a revolutionary treatment for severe mental health conditions that are resistant to treatment.

Check out this list of severe mental health disorders, and how psychedelics can help treat them.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic mental health disorder that greatly affects the way a person thinks, behaves, and fees. The main symptom of schizophrenia is a serious disconnection and detachment from reality, which can manifest through symptoms of psychosis. These may include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized behavior, and disorganized thinking.

Schizophrenia can be extremely challenging to treat and manage due to many factors, most especially the fact that the symptoms drastically differ from one patient to another. Also, many individuals with this condition don’t respond to conventional treatment.

Many studies have shown that psychedelics are promising for treating schizophrenia and managing its symptoms, allowing patients to regain control and enjoy a better quality of life. That said, it must be acknowledged that small doses of psychedelics are needed because larger doses may have negative effects. Keeping the doses at a clinically accepted low level can induce powerful anti-inflammatory properties especially benefiting patients’ brain function.

Additionally, regulated doses have been found to be well-tolerated and effective in treating several mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, which is notoriously difficult to treat.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder or BPD is a very complex mental health disorder whose hallmark symptoms include unstable relationships, severe emotional dysregulation, and constant impulsive actions. For this reason, it can also be known as emotionally unstable personality disorder. Some severe cases include high suicidal tendencies.

Successful treatment can feel like an uphill battle, as many patients often drop out. It has become critical to develop new treatments for BPD which have less side effects, and are certainly much more effective.

However, some research has pointed to psychedelic therapy. In one study in particular, authors found that MDMA combined with psychotherapy is effective and safe for treating borderline personality disorder. Researchers found that it provides a safe and beneficial alternative even for treating chronic PTSD, a co-occurring disorder of BPD. The researchers also found that MDMA was effective even when administered just twice or thrice during the course of a treatment, whereas psychotropic drugs commonly prescribed in psychiatry often must be taken everyday for a certain period of time.

The treatment, known as MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, is gaining traction for treating other complex mental health disorders as well.

Severe Anxiety Disorders

Severe anxiety disorders significantly impact the daily life, as well as quality of life, of patients. Whereas generalized anxiety disorders may be occasional bouts of anxiety, severe anxiety is intense, persistent, and chronic.

Patients with severe anxiety disorders excessively ruminate and worry about things that often can’t be controlled, even without a trigger. It can manifest physically, such a through hyperventilation, shakes, sweating, and a racing heart. Long term effects include insomnia, headaches, fatigue, and difficulty thinking straight. The severe anxiety is so debilitating that it requires serious and professional interventions for patients to regain their quality of life.

Thankfully, a handful of various psychedelics have shown promising results for treating severe anxiety disorders, even where conventional medications have failed. Psilocybin is one of the most widely studied psychedelics for treating chronic anxiety; studies show that it has long-lasting results in anxiety management, with excellent results observed months even after the last treatment.

LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), or also known as acid, has also been widely studied for mental health disorders especially anxiety. According to studies, LSD can enhance cognitive flexibility and reduce anxiety scores especially when used in psychotherapy. As a result, patients can break rigid mental thought patterns that can influence anxiety-driven behaviors. LSD interacts with serotonin receptors in the brain, such as 5-HT1A and many others, which help regulate mood and reduce anxious behaviors.

MDMA’s potential for treating anxiety and other mental health disorders likewise continues to grow. Patients who struggle with anxiety show positive responses to MDMA; it has been shown to strengthen emotional processing while improving the coping mechanisms of patients. Also known by its street drug names molly or ecstasy, MDMA works well in modulating neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. These all play an important role in regulating one’s emotions and improve overall mood.

CONCLUSION

If you or a loved one are struggling with mental health disorders and would like to experiment with psychedelics, it’s always recommended to do so in a clinical setting. These are not conditions wherein self-medicating is advisable, because of the harmful side effects of taking too much or too little, as well as the potential interactions of psychedelics with other medications.

Therapy sessions in a controlled environment is the best, safest way to medicate with psychedelics for severe mental health disorders. Reach out to a medical professional to get started, but do your own research.

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