Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: hope and dilemma

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is an emerging therapeutic approach that combines the use of psychedelics (a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs) and psychotherapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and treatment-resistant depression. Compared with current treatments for depression, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has a more direct impact on brain activity, which can result in profound insights and promote introspection, emotional release, and cognitive shifts. Most importantly, it requires fewer treatment regimens, often just one, and in a yet-to-be-published study, the therapeutic benefits have been shown to result in sustained remission of depression at 18 months following a single treatment.