How can using psychedelics help combat and manage trauma and improve mental health? Are they any good in bringing the brain back to its former malleable state prior to said trauma?
Gül Dölen, UC Berkeley Research focus - Functioning of neural circuitry and the biological mechanisms that influence mental health and disorders. Causes and potential treatments for “diseases of the social brain”
Psychedelics could be valuable in treating neuropsychiatric disorders
Psychedelics are a class of drugs that include an altered state of consciousness. There can be many different types of psychedelics such as
- Hallucinogenic (tryptamine class) - bind to serotonin 2A receptor
- Non-halluc - Like MDMA (empathogenic response)
- Dissociative - Ketamine and PCP
- Oneirogenic - Ibogaine (people can’t even describe the trip they experienced) The thinking is that there’s a heavy debate on the classes of psychedelics
Exploring psychedelics - acceptable scientific research How to explain consciousness and other psychological and spiritual terms biologically Comparative perspectives of the mind
Altered states of consciousness = Serotonin + LSD (their connecting)
Critical periods - The moments where the brain is extremely sensitive towards something and that is a major factor in shaping the mind (language learning as a child vs as an adult, imprinting behaviour in baby geese) Critical periods are essentially the ability to learn. We learn from our environment. We do not have a gene for every possible behaviour
Psychedelics are being researched for their ability to open critical periods in the brain to allow for efficient therapy Big pharma and SSRIs usually follow the biochemical imbalance model and they prescribe pills to restore serotonin (say) balance Psychedelics are extremely powerful because when properly combined with psychotherapy, you need only a few doses to help re-adjust the brain. People were adaptive during the time of the genetic trauma, after all
References
https://www.quantamagazine.org/can-psychedelics-improve-mental-health-20240606/