Renewed interest in psychedelics to treat depression and PTSD.

An MDMA therapy session is conducted by researchers Marcela Ot’alora, MA, LPC, and Bruce Poulter, MPH, RN. Photo courtesy of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

As the saying goes, “everything that’s old is new again,” and that apparently applies to the exploration of using psychedelic medications as part of mental health therapy. That’s the topic of one of our feature articles in the June issue.

When I was an ED nurse in the early 1970s, we often saw patients who were brought in because they were on a “bad trips” from illicit use of psychedelic drugs: acid (LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide), but also mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, a hallucinogen derived from the peyote plant), or “magic mushrooms,” which contained psilocybin.

While these drugs were used in in psychiatric research as early as the 1950s (see the AJN article from 1964, “Supporting the Patient on LSD Day,” free until the end of June), they were later banned for use in the 1970s under the Controlled Substances Act after they became popular illicit drugs in the counterculture of the 1960s. (Remember Harvard professor and psychologist Timothy Leary, who advocated wide use of psychoactive drugs and freely dispensed them to his students in unregulated research?)

MDMA and psilocybin now in clinical trials.

Now, author Andrew Penn and colleagues write in their article “Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy” that there is a resurgence of interest in these drugs as potential adjuncts to psychotherapy; two psychoactive agents—3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin—are being studied in clinical trials for PTSD and major depressive disorder, respectively.

Few apparent negatives when used in controlled circumstances.

For those who may recall the negative experiences that some patients had from illicit use, you’ll be relieved to know that the authors cite recent research that there is an “absence of negative consequences in the clinical setting [with] therapeutic preparation and support for the psychedelic experience.”

An overview of current knowledge on psychedelics as therapeutic agents.

Currently, nursing literature and advocacy in this area is missing. This article provides a solid overview of the history, pharmacology, potential uses, and current research in this emerging treatment area. While most nurses won’t see these agents in the clinical setting anytime soon, it’s not too soon to become knowledgeable about psychedelic-assisted therapy so that we’re prepared when they do arrive.

(You can earn two hours of continuing education credit. And visit our Behind the Article podcasts page to listen to a podcast with the lead author.)