From LSD to Ecstasy, How Psychedelics Are Altering Therapy, with Prof. Harriet de Wit

People have been taking psychoactive drugs since the beginning of human history, but there hasn’t been a lot of good scientific study of these substances. One person who has been trying to turn a scientific lens toward them is University of Chicago Professor Harriett de Wit, and what she’s discovered is surprising.
The latest research shows that there may be more uses for drugs like MDMA and LSD than sending people on mind-altering trips. In fact, they could radically change how some people engage with therapy. De Wit also examines microdosing, why it is so popular, and whether it does what people suggest.
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(Keywords: harriet dewitt, harriettdewit, universityofchicago, university of chicago, harriet de wit, big brains podcast, psychedelic drug therapy, mdma therapy, mdma therapy and healing, mdma therapy depression, mdma therapy ptsd, lsd therapy for alcoholism, lsd guided therapy, therapudic mdma, therapeutic psychedelics, therapeutic psychology, microdosing mushrooms changed my life, microdosing, micro dose therapy, microdosing therapy, Mental health, psychedelic therapy, drug therapy psychology, magic mushrooms, psychedelic drugs, microdosing lsd, lsd microdosing, micro dosing, future of medicine, big brains)
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[@kotovdotin2167]

BLOTTER PICS FOR YOU - make em on my website. Please feel free to share

[@the_famous_reply_guy]

40 years of study has given so little understanding.

[@anngreene8446]

It's very difficult research with the vastly negative attitude in government (and the leftover "War on Drugs" culture) with gov't agencies shutting out opportunities for clinical trials which is where real science has to happen in order to show results that are more concrete. So for example, you may have anecdotal experiences of people who use casually, but generally people who would use casually would not necessarily be the same personality type as combat veterans who have PTSD. So you can't really get much out of studying a group of people with similar personalities against one another rather than contrasting them against people with different personalities, and very importantly did the persons have a specific psychological diagnoses whether of PTSD or otherwise. So there are several factors working against research until recent FDA approval of limited clinical research: legality, funding, acquisition or synthesis of pure measurable doses of the substance, diversity of population as well as specificity of population, trained therapists and researchers, appropriate facilities, etc.. And determining how to control most of these factors is a challenge in and of itself. What makes a person a qualified therapist in a field for which there is no standard of training? How can there be qualified researchers in a field with no handbook of "how-to"? You also need willing researchers, therapists, and study subjects and with the legality of these drugs being felony level crimes many people would simply turn down opportunities to participate. Without having contained variables research is purely anecdotal, and that they've come as far as they have by getting the FDA to open the door a crack is an extraordinary thing. I applaud all of these researchers who likely have had to conduct any research possible subversively with limited resources. It's quite amazing. (You can be certain that the reason the FDA gives a damn is there is possibility of profit through investments, taxes, and pharmaceutical industry push for a new drug/drugs already in demand by an awakening public.)

[@the_famous_reply_guy]

@@anngreene8446 The lack of love creates trauma. Why do we need a complex answer to a simple problem? All these substances show the consciousness mind the wound that needs healing. Love is the answer.

[@anngreene8446]

@@the_famous_reply_guy that would be wonderful, but it is a sad fact of our culture that there are not enough people giving love to take care of the people who need it.

[@anngreene8446]

​@@the_famous_reply_guy I would have to add that there are instances of trauma where love is not enough to heal a person. There are ancient parts of our brains that work on a survival level which makes decisions purely on fight/flight/freeze. This is a huge trouble with treating PTSD - MANY people who have it are very much loved and accepted, but it does not dissipate the pain. It is not enough. And PTSD is not caused by lack of love universally - seeing a person get killed in an accident isn't about love. It is seeing something so terrible a brain reacts in a way that changes the function of the brain itself. Those people who have seen such a thing can receive all the love and support in the world, but this is the devastating thing of PTSD is it is often "untouchable". Think of the loving families of returning veterans who have been in combat. It's not lack of love that stops them from getting well. There is more going on in the mind that kindness and love are capable of healing *in our culture as it is*. It would be an amazing privilege to exist in a society so loving that every single one of our pains could be soothed and healed by the people around us, but as of yet humans have proven they can't do that as a species. Also, as to the concerns about chemicals, these plant-based drugs dosed carefully are stimulating parts of the brain in ways that understand the mechanisms of chemicals in our minds and what interacts with what. Science has come very far to understand these things, though of course not yet perfected. We ingest chemicals every day that impact our brains and bodies, and activities affect our chemical balance as well. No man is an island. I would love to discuss this at greater length, but alas I have papers to write for class. Thank you for sharing your enthusiasm about the potential healing of love.

[@karinlarsen2608]

@@anngreene8446 what about studying other countries? Is it illegal everywhere?

[@minnerminful]

Man if mdma can make octopi more social which are physically made up of mostly neuronal tissue probably have lots of autism due too theyre non neurotypical self reflective solutions maybe itd help autistic people?