“This class of drugs, when combined with psychotherapy, represents the first new hope in decades for treating pervasive mental health disorders,” explained Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in San Jose, Calif.Īlso see: Here is another reason to wait until 70 to claim Social Security A therapeutic breakthrough But thanks to the work of dedicated researchers, and propelled by Michael Pollan’s bestseller, “How to Change Your Mind,” psychedelics are once again in the spotlight, this time as powerful agents for healing depression, PTSD and other soul-crushing conditions. New hope for mental healthįor those of us who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, psychedelics might seem like an ancient relic. “What’s so funny is that nobody can really see it, but yet, for me, everything has changed…I feel more contented and happy about my place in the world,” she said. Several subsequent therapy sessions helped her process and integrate what she’d experienced. Then, for most of that day, she lay comfortably on a couch with eyeshades, headphones and two trusted therapists by her side for the journey.

“I was just part of this big beautiful world…and that’s what’s going to happen when I die…maybe death is a beautiful thing,” she said.īrenda had several preparatory sessions with a team of therapists before she was given the experimental drug. For Brenda, who had no prior experience with psychedelics, her “trip” was transformative:

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