Category Archives: Psychedelics

New York Times

Molly at the Marriott: Inside America's Premier Psychedelics Conference New York Times Rather than rock stars, scientists from schools like Johns Hopkins and N.Y.U. were the main attraction, bringing evidence to the medical case for psychedelics like psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) to assuage end-of-life anxiety, to ...

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Molly at the Marriott: Inside America's Premier Psychedelics Conference - New York Times

Are psychedelics the new medical marijuana? (May 7, 2017)

When I woke up yesterday morning, I opened the door of my bedroom and walked out to a balcony overlooking the Pacific. I waited to catch a glimpse of the dolphins I had seen the day before and moved on to my meditation ritual.

That was the closest Id get to a mystical experience at the Ibogaine Institute on the coast of Rosarito, Mexico. Upstairs, on the third floor of the house, a man and a woman I had met the day before were laying in a blacked-out room, entering their seventh hour of soul-searching hallucinations. In the house next door, six people had just emerged, changed they said, from a different journey, under the influence of yet another hallucinogen.

Kim, who'd been upstairs, is a 29-year-old with the face of a teenager who has been addicted to heroin for seven years. Just like Colin, also undergoing the Ibogaine treatment in the same room, Kim suffered an accident and became dependent on prescription painkillers. When doctors wouldnt prescribe them anymore, she turned to black market pills. She received a settlement from the accident and said she spent the $90,000 on pills. Finally, she turned to the cheaper alternative, heroin.

Just like Colin, Kim said other programs would detox her on Suboxone, a drug used to treat opioid addiction, which also has a high risk for addiction and dependence. She said those programs crowd people into bunk beds and although they teach the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, she never even got past the first step. As other addicts I interviewed told me, you become dependent on the Suboxone and the Methadone and you cant really function.

Kim says the Ibogaine Institute doesnt seem like any other 30-day program because they actually work on whats wrong, on the problem of why you use in the first place. She hopes after her treatment, she can return to Connecticut to be a mother to her 6-year old son, now in custody of Kims mom.

The institute offers 7 and 30-day programs to chronic relapsers of drug addiction, PTSD patients, and other disorders. Treatments for addiction begin with Ibogaine, a natural African psychoactive drug, and end with Ayahuasca, a popular South American plant-based hallucinogen.

Scott, the founder of the Ibogaine Institute who says he owes his years of recovery to Ayahuasca, says up to 70 percent of people who have gone through his treatments have stayed sober. According to a 2014 study looking at relapse rates after other residential treatments, 29 percent of people who are opioid dependent will remain abstinent after a year.

Scott says the Ibogaine helps fight cravings and they also integrate heavy doses of therapy, meditation, exercise and a nutritional diet to help people craft a foundation for daily life.

By the end of the treatment they are no longer physically dependent on the heroin, says Scott, who has also integrated the wisdom of 12-steps programs into the treatment. Once the bell has been rung, its impossible to un-ring it. Theyre coming face to face with parts of themselves that they had been unwilling to look at, and because of the journey they are in, theres nowhere to run. We are integrating pieces of ourselves that are at war with each other and once those pieces integrate, it is a lot easier to experience and be able to keep on the path.

He said the reason he's in Mexico is to gather enough evidence to build enough of a case to show the results of the treatment and with that, push for federal agencies to regulate Ibogaine and allow its controlled use in the U.S.

I met Scott at the Psychedelic Science Conference in Oakland where scientists, patients and casual users convened to discuss the benefits of psychedelic drugs and the need for drug policy reform.

I also met Dr. James Fadiman, who is running one of the largest studies on microdosing with LSD.

The major benefit seems to be that theres an improved equilibrium of systems throughout the body, which is why it seems to affect so many different systems," he said.

That sounded to me like a sort of panacea cure for all ailments and it wasnt too far from what Ayelet Waldman told me when I interviewed her at home.

Following Dr. Fadimans guidance, Waldman did a 30-day micro dosing experiment to treat a severe mood disorder and reported her experience in her book, A Really Good Day.

I just wanted to relieve the intensity of my depression and I was profoundly depressed, even suicidal when I started the experiment." she said. "I just wanted to feel better so I said to myself okay you can break the law for 30 days.

She said the treatment helped her more than any antidepressant ever did and it did so without the gnarly side effects. Microdosing doesn't make you hallucinate, as you are only taking between 5 and 10 percent of a typical dose. Ayelet says if the drug wasnt illegal, she would still be microdosing.

LSD and Ibogaine are not the only psychedelics making a comeback and seeking legitimacy in science and health. Magic mushrooms, MDMA, Ayahuasca, and psilocybin, among others, are being studied for their potential benefits to treat a number of illnesses and mental disorders. However, they are all Schedule I drugs which, according to the DEA, are drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies or MAPS, sponsors research on psychedelics and helps scientists navigate the complex pathways of regulation. They are currently conducting one of the most advanced and promising studies in psychedelics by treating PTSD patients with MDMA, also known as Molly.

We found that (MDMA) almost doubled the effectiveness of the treatment," said AllisonFeduccia, a researcher at MAPS. "People who were in the MDMA group had significant reductions in their PTSD symptoms two months after completing of the sessions and then also we followed up with them 12 months later and found that 67 percent of participants at that point no longer met criteria for PTSD.

MAPS enrolled 107 subjects across six different study sites in the U.S., Canada and Israel, treating different kinds of PTSD. One study specifically enrolled veterans firefighters and police officers.

Its really a long-term durable effect that we see with this treatment is quite promising," saidFeduccia."This is a very difficult condition to treat with the current medications and therapy available."

MAPS is entering Phase III of clinical trials. If they prove the medical benefits, a cost they estimate will surround 20 million dollars, they can apply for the drug to get rescheduled by the FDA and MAPS will be able to produce it. That doesnt mean Molly will be available to anyone, it would only be part of medical treatments.

Some drug policy advocates say this kind of progress, while good, is not enough to deal with the ill consequences of the war on drugs. Representatives from the Drug Policy Alliance and other advocacy groups stand by the notion that people who want to get high will get high. They also say prohibition creates enormous profits for organized crime groups, endangers the lives of black market drug users, generates violence in the streets and the countries where drugs are produced and has resulted in the mass incarceration of millions of Americans.

Hamilton Morris is the host of Hamiltons Pharmacopeia, a show about drugs on VICELAND. He said he sees freedom of consciousness as a basic human right.

I favor a sort of cognitive liberty stance that people should be able to have the freedom to alter their consciousness with whatever they wish," he said. "Even if it is harmful, even if it is damaging, I think the damage of prohibition I think is far greater than the small number of people that are being helped using these things in a therapeutic way in a clinical trial.

Ethan Nadelmann, who just stepped down as Director of the Drug Policy Alliance says, although Jeff Sessions will make it difficult for psychedelics to reach the level of acceptance that medical marijuana has in the past few years, the overreach by the Federal agencies might push for states to fight back and defend their own progressive policies.

I think the popular consciousness is not there is yet," he said. "We just begun to do some public opinion polling on it where you now have 90 percent of Americans believing that marijuana should be legal for medical purposes, which is up from 60 percent 20 years ago. On psychedelics, there's a growing awareness. But it hasn't penetrated the mass consciousness yet.

That means lobbying and the alternative drug policies that may follow are still long ways away. But for addicts, vets, and people suffering from disorders who could find help in these drugs, the stakes are as high as their very survival.

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Are psychedelics the new medical marijuana? - ABC10

Tom McKay, PolicyMicWaking Times

Scientists Studied What Psychedelics Do to the Brain, and Its Not What Youve Been Told

It turns out that psychedelics arent just good forturning into an elf and jousting a car. Psychiatrists, psychologists and specialists in addiction and recovery from traumatic experiences have been investigating the use of hallucinogens in treatment programs, and the results indicate that psychedelics actually have practical therapeutic uses. And one drug has proven particularly useful.Repeated studies have found the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, psilocybin, can help people move past major life issues like beating alcoholism and becoming more empathetic.

The research:One study concluded that controlled exposure to psilocybin could havelong-lasting medical and spiritual benefits. In 2011,Johns Hopkins researchers found that by giving volunteer test subjects just the right dose (not enough to give them a terrifying bad trip), they were able to reliably induce transcendental experiences in volunteers. This provoked long-lasting psychological growth and helped the volunteers to find peace in their lives, all without side effects. Nearly all of the 18 test subjects, average age 46, were college graduates. Seventy-eight percent were religious and all were interested in finding a scientific experience.

Fourteen months later, 94% said their trip on magic mushrooms was one of the five most important moments of their lives. Thirty-nine percent said it was the most important thing that had ever happened to them. Their colleagues, friends, and family members said the participants were kinder and happier; the volunteers had positive experiences ranging from more empathy and improved marriages to less drinking.

Whats more, the researchers say that those changes in personality are highly atypical, because personalities tend to be pretty set in stone after the age of 25-30.Accordingto postdoctoral researcher Katherine MacLean, who contributed to the study, This is one of the first studies to show that you actually can change adult personality.

Many years later, people are saying it was one of the most profound experiences of their life, she continued. If you think about it in that context, its not that surprising that it might be permanent.

This is strictly do-not-try-this-at-home. Macleansaysthat in an unsupervised setting, if that sort of fear or anxiety set in, the classic bad trip, it could be pretty dangerous. But On the most speculative side, this suggests that there might be an application of psilocybin for creativity or more intellectual outcomes that we really havent explored at all.

More research:Within the past few decades, interest in hallucinogens has expanded from the counter-culture to dedicated, methodological research. For example,another study published in 2010conducted research into whether psilocybin can lend some comfort to terminal cancer patients finding evidence that it reduced death anxiety and experienced significantly less depression.Accordingto study researcher Dr. Charles Grob, Individuals did speak up and tell us that they felt it was of great value. NYUs Dr. Stephen Ross, who conducted a similar study,told SCPRthat To me its been some of the most remarkable clinical findings Ive ever seen as a psychiatrist.

Psychologist Clark Martin, Ph.D., who participated in the study as a volunteer, describes his experience below:

As well as participant Janeen Delaney:

As a result of the studies, a jointUCLA, NYU and Johns Hopkins team is conducting large-scale phase three trial next year.

Cluster headache patients say (with the backing of some doctors) that psilocybin and LSD provide them withsignificant relief, which researchers argue need further study.

A 2012 study published in theBritish Journal of Psychiatryfound evidencethat psilocybin enhances autobiographical recollection, suggesting psychiatric uses in the recall of salient memories or to reverse negative cognitive biases. Areviewof the pyschiatric research performed on psilocybin concluded that the risks of therapy were acceptable and that most subjects described the experience as pleasurable, enriching and non-threatening. And this year, Zrichresearchersreleased a studyin which they administered psilocybin to 25 volunteers. The treatment was found to be associated with an increase of positive mood in healthy volunteers.

So basically, theres at least some hard evidence that this:

Has the potential to be helpful, leading to introspection, self-reflection, and relief from psychiatric conditions.

Other drugs:Other illegal drugs have been linked to positive psychological outcomes. Trials with MDMA have hadpositive resultsin patients suffering from PTSD.Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies founder Rick Doblin, who works with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, discusses why MDMA might be the first psychedelic to open the door into traditional psychiatry and psychology:

So why isnt there more evidence?The federal government is only now beginning to loosen its restrictions on medical uses of mind-altering substances, and its doing so very cautiously. In 2013, a group of psychiatristsreleaseda review saying government restrictions made even researching psychoactive drugs difficult and in many cases almost impossible.

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The Truth About What Psychedelics Do to Your Brain ...

As we have mentioned on Big Think before, psychedelic drugs are currently enjoying a surge of new interest in medicine. Psilocybin (the compound in magic mushrooms) is showing potential in the treatment of anxiety, and LSD shows promise against alcoholism. While some of these drugs were used previously for therapeutic purposes, their association with the counterculture proved dangerous to their legality. As such, only now are their potential benefits being reconsidered.

A recent study shows yet another psychedelic to have potent and potentially therapeutic effects. The drug is Ayahuasca, a concoction consisting primarily of the chemical DMT, with other elements added to aid in the absorption of the drug. DMT is incredibly powerful; users often report the sensation of being in a different world, and when brewed as Ayahuasca the length of a trip goes from five minutes to several hours. Ayahuasca is therefore regarded, justly, as one of the most extreme psychedelic drugs in existence.

The study by Jos Carlos Bouso and others examined the brains of 22 long-term users of Ayahuasca. When their brains were measured for thickness in the posterior cingulate cortex it was found that they had reduced levels of brain activity in that region. This isnt as bad as it sounds; this part of the brain is associated with anxiety and depression. The size of this region is also negatively associated with working memory performance.

The users also scored higher on tests of self-transcendence and self-reported a reduced usage of alcohol and cocaine later. While correlation cannot prove causation, it does suggest that use of the drug leads to structural changes in the brain, ones that may assist people who have issues with anxiety, depression, and substance abuse,along with the typical effects of psychedelic usage.

An example of those typical effects.

It's not only Ayahuasca that has that brain-changing effect. Meditation can also reduce the area of the brain associated with anxiety and depression, and can do so without the side effects of extreme vomiting, apocalyptic diarrhea, and having to interact with potentially shady shamanistic hacks that take advantage of Ayahuasca's increasing public interest. Similarly, the studies are still new and more research is needed before the facts can be called settled. A single study of 22 people is no reason to go out and try it yourself.

We are living in a time when the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic drugs are being seriously reconsidered. Ayahuasca, the drink of choice for the discriminating shaman, may prove to be another tool in the psychologist's arsenal. Much more research is needed before a conclusive answer can be given. The potential, however, is clear and intriguing. Our fear of psychedelics must not inhibit our ability to study their possible therapeutic effects, likewise we must be sure our hope for therapeutic effects does not inhibit our ability to do proper research.

sam-harris-on-the-virtues-of-psychedelics-and-mdma

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Will This Insanely Powerful Psychedelic Drug Someday Help Your Sanity? - Big Think

MDMA is consumed primarily for its euphoric and empathogenic effects (Picture: Getty)

New research suggests that psychedelics could be used to lower the risk of suicide.

Psychedelics could be used in treatment for a range of mental illnesses; including depression, PTSD and anxiety according to information presented at the Psychedelic Science conference in California last week.

Substances such as MDMA are being examined as potential remedies for conditions such as PTSD, with an FDA-approved trial taking place later this summer.

Elena Argento, a researcher for the BC Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDs, claims psychedelics could play a significant role in decreasing the risk of suicide in vulnerable groups such as female sex workers.

Ayahuasca, a psychedelic brew made from plants found in South America, shows potential therapeutic qualities.

Argentos research is based on a four-year evaluation on sex workers access to health care conducted by AESHA which included 800 female sex workers in Vancouver.

Participants were asked about their drug use and mental health, including whether they had felt suicidal in the last six months.

Some of the women were excluded on the basis that they were feeling suicide at the time of the initial interview in order to establish a reliable measure of how psychedelics affect new periods of suicidality.

The researcher found that sex workers who had taken a psychedelic at some point in their life was linked to a 60% reduced risk of suicidal tendencies.

While crystal meth use and abuse during childhood remained a predictor of suicidal tendencies.

It should be noted that Argentos study was observational and it wasnt conducted under lab conditions.

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Previous studies have suggested that LSD has proved effective in treating depression and anxiety, though research into LSD as a potential treatment for mental illness have had their progress stunted by Americas so-called war on drugs.

Argento told the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies conference that the next step in her research could be to decipher if specific types of psychedelic or frequency used make a difference to the subjects state of mind.

She said: We didnt separate out looking just at LSD or psilocybin, for example, although thats something we could look at in the future.

There are plans at the BC Center for Excellence to start doing some trials with psychedelics.

Potentially some of the sex workers from AESHA will have the opportunity to be enrolled in these trials of using psychedelics for various mental health issues.

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Psychedelic drugs could reduce the risk of suicide - Metro

(Credit: Future Vectors/Shutterstock)

Depression is challenging to manage, especially since many antidepressants can take weeks to work and simply fail for nearly one-third of sufferers. New research presented in April at the Psychedelic Science 2017 conference in Oakland, California, suggests psychedelic drugs can help people battling depression and other psychiatric disorders that defy conventional therapies.

Drulio Barros de Arajo, a neuroscientist at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil, presented new findings from a study that used ayahuasca a hallucinogenic brew of bark and leaves that groups indigenous to the Amazon use in healing ceremonies to help treat depression. (The study hasnt been peer-reviewed yet but is available here.)

In a 2015 pilot study, Arajo and his team showed that one dose of ayahuasca (between roughly four to seven ounces) quickly alleviated depression in six Brazilian volunteers without serious side effects. Encouraged by these results, he repeated the study in 2016 with 17 volunteers. Again, participants tolerated the psychedelic concoction and experienced relief that lasted throughout the 21-day trial.

But, Arajo says, The main problem with these studies is that we didnt control for the placebo. In drug trials, a placebo is a sham substance with no active ingredients. Researchers use it to suss out the effects of the drug theyre testing from a persons expectation that taking a pill will help them. Controlling for this placebo effect is especially important in depression trials, since studies show up to 40 percent of patients respond to a placebo, though that effect is short-lived.

Ayahuasca before it is cooked and served as a tea. (Credit: Terpsichore/Shutterstock)

So he designed a placebo-controlled study for 35 volunteers whod tried at least two different conventional antidepressants to no avail. They were randomly assigned to receive either a single dose of ayahuasca or the placebo, an inert brown, bitter brew that looked and tasted like ayahuasca. Neither investigators nor patients knew who got what.

People in both groups started feeling better the next day. But a week later, the difference between the two groups became apparent: those who took ayahuasca experienced a substantial drop in the severity of their depression.

Another study presented at the conference, led by Leor Roseman, a doctoral neuroscience student at Imperial College London, reported similar results using psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms.

In Rosemans study, also yet-to-be published, 20 volunteers with treatment-resistant depression received two doses spaced a week apart. The first dose was a teaser to prepare them for the main event a second dose large enough to produce a strong psychedelic experience.

During their clinically induced trips, participants listened to music with their eyes covered to facilitate introspection, while two therapists recorded the participants experience. Of the 19 people who completed the study, most showed dramatic improvements up to a week after the sessions. Their gains persisted for about five weeks, at which point some people continued to improve while some got worse.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (not associated with the current study) create a comfortable environment during a therapy session using psychedelics. (Credit: Matthew W. Johnson/Wikemedia Commons)

So what was the difference between those who responded well and those who didnt? The intensity of a persons peak experience, Roseman says. This so-called peak experience is associated with several psychological states, including a sense of unity and dissolution of self, positive mood and insight. The more intense the peak (and the more intense these psychological states), the more improvement people experienced.

Collectively, these findings offer a glimpse into the potential of psychedelics. Unlike conventional medications, which tend to dampen positive emotions along with the negative, psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin intensify both the good and bad. This helps people work through their painful memories with a therapist in ways they couldnt before. Its psychedelic drugs power to produce a profound psychological experience, researchers hope, that will put patients on the path to lasting recovery.

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Psychedelics Show Promise in Treating Depression - Discover Magazine (blog)

Men's Health

Can Psychedelic Drugs Treat Anxiety and Depression? Men's Health Researchers have experimented with the potentially palliative effects of psychedelics since at least the 1940s, when the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann began experimenting with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which he'd synthesized a few years earlier.

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Can Psychedelic Drugs Treat Anxiety and Depression? - Men's Health

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As anyone whos suffered from depression knows, finding a treatment that works whether that be therapy, medication, or a combination of the two is an arduous process that often feels just as bad as the symptoms of the disorder itself. In short: Depression sucks and the treatments we currently have arent nearly as perfect as commercials for Zoloft would have you believe. But theres some good news: We now have evidence that psychedelic substances including ayahuasca and magic mushrooms may hold the key to alleviating the symptoms.

Discover Magazine reports that at the recently-held Psychedelic Science conference, two studies provided significant evidence that taking a drug-induced trip into ones mind may hold the key to relieving those living with depression of their symptoms. The first study, conducted in Brazil, was a follow-up to a 2015 study investigating whether ayahuasca could mitigate the effects of depression long term. While the original study was promising, its author noted that a major problem was the lack of a placebo. And because all participants received an actual dose of the substance, it was impossible to tell who was benefitting from the treatment and who was just feeling better because they believed they were.

The new study changed that. In fact, all 35 people involved in the study (all of whom had tried two or more traditional medications), were reported to feel better the next day, regardless of whether they took actual ayahuasca or an inert bitter brew that not only tasted bad but also did absolutely nothing.

To try ayahuasca, though, you might need to travel outside of the United States and stay at an expensive lodge. Plus, there are some unpleasant effects that the folk remedy brings out, including vomit lots and lots of vomit. You want to make a depressed person even more depressed? Tell them that the best medicine (not laughter) could involve them puking their guts out for hours and see how they feel. (Source: personal experience after being told this.) So what to try instead? Well, magic mushrooms could be the answer that you seek.

Wait, though! Before you start scrolling through your phone to figure out which of your college friends is granola enough to go on regular head trips, it must be understood that for the trip to alleviate depression, it must be structured in a certain way. Leor Roseman, a doctoral candidate in the neuroscience department at Imperial College London and author of the study, administered magic mushrooms twice to each participant. The first time was a teaser, Discover reports. The second time? A full-blown trip.

From Discover:

During their clinically induced trips, participants listened to music with their eyes covered to facilitate introspection, while two therapists recorded the participants experience. Of the 19 people who completed the study, most showed dramatic improvements up to a week after the sessions. Their gains persisted for about five weeks, at which point some people continued to improve while some got worse.

Of course, this is only the beginning, and, in several years, well probably be much closer to figuring out if and how psychedelics are truly the answer. For now, though, these studies are an excellent reminder that if you suffer from depression, more help could soon be on the way.

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'Tripping Balls' May Be The Next Great Treatment For Depression - UPROXX

Syd Barrett is one of the most tragic stories in rock and roll. As the founder and lead singer/guitarist/songwriter for Pink Floyd, he revolutionized rock and roll and spearheaded the burgeoning psychedelic sound of the 1960s. However, shortly after the release of the bands 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, something changed. Barretts friends and bandmates claim he became more withdrawn, started playing only one chord during concerts, and even becoming catatonic. After Floyd replaced him with David Gilmour, Barrett recorded two solo albums and then left the limelight altogether until his death in 2006. Most people believe his excessive LSD consumption led to Barretts demise, but recent studies suggest psychedelics can perhaps improve mental health, not ruin it.

The most recent study comes from Brazil and tested the effects of a hallucinogen called ayahuasca on people with treatment-resistant depression. Fourteen people were given the hallucinogen while 15 people received a placebo. Within one week, more people who took ayahuasca claimed their depression went from severe to mild than those who took the placebo. Of course, as David Mischoulon of MassachusettsGeneral Hospital points out, we need studies that follow patients for longer periods to see whether these effects are sustained. However other studies that examined the effect of psychedelics on mental health found similar results.

In a study published in 2016, researches from the New York University School of Medicine gave psilocybin to cancer patients along with psychotherapy to see what effect it would have on anxiety and depression. The double-blind study gave some of the 29 participants 0.3 mg of the hallucinogen while others received 250 mg of niacin, then switched after seven weeks. The results found that psilocybin reduced the level of anxiety and depression better than the niacin.

As far as psychedelic drug usage and psychosis, two studies from 2015 found no link between the two. The first comes from Norwegian clinical psychologists Pl-rjan Johansen and Teri Suzanne Krebs who shifted through National Survey on Drug Use and Health results from 2001 to 2004. Out of the 130,152 respondents, 13.4 percent said they used psychedelics during their lifetimes. After examining the mental health histories of these respondents and calculating weighted odd ratios, the authors concluded, We did not find use of psychedelics to be an independent risk factor for mental health problems. The second study comes from the Journal of Psychopharmacology which also took a look at National Survey on Drug Use and Health results, only this time between 2008 and 2012. The results for a general decrease of suicidal ideation and severe mental distress were significantly less among lifetime psychedelic usage than other hard drugs. These findings indicate, the report concludes, that classic psychedelics may hold promise in the prevention of suicide, supporting the view that classic psychedelics most highly restricted legal status should be reconsidered to facilitate scientific study, and suggesting that more extensive clinical research with classic psychedelics is warranted.

So what happened to Syd Barrett? How did such a promising young talent end up with a look in [his] eyes like black holes in the sky? While no one can posthumously diagnose Barrett, the current hypothesis is he already had a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and the drugs brought it out of him. As former Floyd bassist Roger Waters told the BBC in 2013, It felt to me at the time that Syd was kind of drifting off the rails, and when youre drifting off the rails the worst thing you can do is start messing around with hallucinogens It definitely exacerbated the symptoms that, loosely strung together, you and I might call schizophrenia. He heard voices. He became incommunicative. He turned into a different person; [his eyes] were black holes in the sky.

The same has been said of another so-called acid casualty in rock and roll, Roky Ericksonfrom the 13th Floor Elevators who, according to the documentary Youre Gonna Miss Me, starting speaking gibberish during the height of the bands popularity. Theres also Daniel Johnstonwho always struggled with bipolar disorder, but soon became obsessed with the end times after taking acid during a Butthole Surfers show.

Like with most drugs, it is safe to assume that when it comes to psychedelics, results may vary. This is why Richard Friedman recently wrote an op-ed for the New York Times reminding readers that we dont know how safe or effective psychedelics are because most of the data have been anecdotal or from small trials. However, at this point the evidence suggests that psychedelics can help people with depression and anxiety, but not psychosis, so if you have a family history of schizophrenia, better lay off the acid for now.

Trav Mamone is a queer trans blogger who write about the intersections of social justice and secular humanism at Bi Any Means. They also host the Bi Any Means Podcast and co-host the Biskeptical Podcast.

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Was Syd Barrett an Acid Casualty? - Paste Magazine

Photo: Dixie Sheridan, The Marsh

Adam Strauss in The Mushroom Cure at the Marsh.

Adam Strauss in The Mushroom Cure at the Marsh.

Psychedelics combat psychological issues at the Marsh

If you suffer from OCD or know someone who does, the portrait of the disease that Adam Strauss paints in his solo show The Mushroom Cure will ring all too true. Even trivial decisions are impossible, so paralyzing as to imperil ones career and love life, not to mention ones happiness. Treatments? Hed tried them all: medication, psychotherapy, yoga, acupuncture, even hypnotism.

Except hallucinogenic mushrooms.

After acclaimed runs at the New York Fringe and off-Broadway, Strauss account of his unusual OCD treatment is now in previews at the Marsh, under the direction of Jonathan Libman.

Even though OCD is a mind-numbing condition, and Strauss doesnt shy away from that, his script reads like stand-up comedy, which is part of his background. Despite all this effort spent on picking the right shirt, he says at one point, I still havent found the right woman.

Lily Janiak

The Mushroom Cure: 8 p.m. Friday, May 5; 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6. Through June 3. $20-$100. The Marsh, 1062 Valencia St., S.F. (415) 282-3055. http://www.themarsh.org

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Psychedelics combat psychological issues at the Marsh - SFGate