LSD and other drugs may have therapeutic applications
For some, they are the means to a party of another world. For others, dangerous "one way" tickets to the problems that deserve their illegal status. But regardless of how people see them and whether or not they like to admit it to politicians and legislators, psychoactive drugs begin to show great potential as effective therapies for various problems of mental health , and could also be a key to expand our understanding of consciousness.
Discovering the therapeutic use of certain drugs
Ketamine
Take for example the case of the Ketamine , or "Special K" as it is known colloquially in the United Kingdom. Today, ketamine is widely used in clinical settings as an anesthetic in both animals and humans, but several studies are also highlighting its remarkable ability to treat depression, bipolar disorders and suicidal behavior. Not only that, but they act extraordinarily fast, showing powerful antidepressant effects in just two hours.
Cannabis, MDMA, LSD
But that's not all: cannabis has shown potential in the treatment of ADHD and insomnia. The active component of the hallucinogenic mushrooms, psilocybin, could be useful in the treatment of addictions, obsessive-compulsive disorders and depressions. For its part, the MDMA could alleviate those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders and Parkinson's patients; and the LSD It could mitigate anxiety, alcoholism or even inflammatory disorders. A quite impressive list that opens the door to reflection on the use of these substances in the medicinal field.
I am suspicious of drugs as a possible therapy
Unfortunately, despite these promising preliminary studies, there is a major barrier in this field of research: attitudes toward drugs , at least in the United Kingdom, make it very difficult to carry out this type of studies. Not only are there organisms that are wary of providing money for such experiments, but also restrictions and regulations that are equally difficult to navigate.
Despite this, there are some trying to carry forward experiments with humans on psychedelic drugs , especially LSD, Ketamine and psilocybin. Parallel to investigating their potential therapeutic use, scientists also hope that by studying how they affect the brain in controlled environments we will unveil some of the mysteries of consciousness.
Experiments with LSD
One of those scientists who is willing to delve deeper into the human mind through these drugs is David Nutt , of the Imperial College of London, famous professor of neuropsychopharmacology and former chief advisor of Medicines of the British government. Given the continuing struggle of academics to secure research funds, and the caution of financial institutions when it comes to investigations involving the use in humans of illicit substances, Nutt is currently addressing the public through the platform start-up of crowdfunding for scientific purposes Walacea in order to continue his research on LSD, which has resulted from a collaboration with Imperial College London and the Beckley Foundation.
"Despite the incredible potential of this drug to expand our understanding of the brain, political stigma has silenced the investigation," Nutt said in an informative, referring to the fact that since LSD was banned there has only been a clinical test with LSD. "We should not play politics with promising science that has so much beneficial potential"
LSD seems to increase the creativity of our brain
To date, Nutt already has administered moderate doses of LSD to 20 subjects and performed imaging studies of its effect on the brain using a combination of FMRI and MEG. Both of them monitor brain activity , but the latter makes "snapshots" of brain activity, while the MEG resembles more a video recording.
These indicate that LSD could behave in a similar way to psilocybin, reducing blood flow to control centers and thus dampening its activity, which ultimately improves brain activity . By doing so, psilocybin seems to favor regions of the brain that are usually separated begin to communicate with each other, which could be the reason why we see a increase in creativity when using this substance. In any case, we will not know if LSD works in a similar way until the second part of the experiment is completed, and that requires the public to scratch their pockets.
