Can Psychedelics Treat Trauma?

Some psychedelic compounds have been shown to be useful in a variety of settings, ranging from existential anxiety to treatment-resistant depression. Can Psychedelics Treat Trauma

But where do psychedelics stand in terms of trauma therapy and recovery?

In this post, we’ll look at if and how certain psychedelics might help people heal from trauma.

We’ll also look at the area of psychiatry and psychedelics, as well as what’s going on in trauma-specific psychedelic research.

How Can Psychedelics Support Trauma Recovery?

Although there is evidence that using psychedelics for therapeutic reasons can alleviate complicated trauma symptoms, there is no simple explanation for why.

The human brain is extraordinarily complicated, not to mention the complexities of human consciousness. Which remain outside the reach of neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology.

There are, however, other psychological, spiritual, and neurological factors that might help us understand why psychedelics is such a potent therapeutic tool. The Complete Guide to Microdosing Mushrooms for PTSD, Depression & Anxiety

Reprocessing Sensory & Somatic Processes

Shifting mental activity into an altered state might provide opportunities for many various ways of processing sensory and bodily events (both in the present instant and imprinted in memories from the past). It also allows for changes in our relationships with ourselves, our experiences, and those around us.

These changes have the potential to make therapeutic approaches more effective.

Psycholytic treatment and psychedelic therapy are the two most frequent kinds of current psychedelic-assisted therapy. They both provide various forms of altered states of consciousness.

Psycholytic Therapy

Roger Sandison created the term “psycholytic therapy,” which combines the use of low-dose psychedelics. (Primarily LSD and psilocybin) with therapeutic interventions.

In today’s psychedelic jargon, this would be referred to as a therapeutic microdose program.

The term “psycholytic” literally means “mind loosening.” These low-dose effects allow for a relaxing of conscious and unconscious defensive systems without causing a complete hallucinogenic trip.

In therapeutic settings, the gentle relaxing of the mind allows for deeper reflection. This strategy has also been utilized to improve the therapeutic interaction between the patient and the therapist. Making the process of rapport and trust-building simpler.

Psychedelic therapy

Psychedelic treatment, on the other hand, consists of fewer high-dose sessions with the goal of reaching a psychedelic peak experience. Humphry Osmond coined the phrase after studying and practicing the administration of full LSD dosages, followed by rigorous psychotherapy sessions.

This whole psychedelic experience is associated with personal insights and epiphanies, as well as the ability to retrieve suppressed memories. This surfacing of repressed memories and new insights may be leveraged into integration to help trauma processing and healing in a safe therapy setting with enough resources.

Altered states of consciousness tend to enrich creativity, and inspiration, and give moments of startling insight and problem-solving, whether produced by psychedelic drugs or other activities such as deep meditation, sleep, and dreaming.

This newfound mental flexibility is expected to aid in the reprocessing and reframing of unpleasant ideas, painful memories, and harmful mental habits.

Mystical Experiences

Psychedelic chemicals have been employed as a way of accessing mystical and spiritual regions throughout nations and civilizations. Many of these drugs create a sense of belonging, increased empathy, and profound alterations in perspective about oneself and the world.

A typically reported experience with classic psychedelics such as LSD is a sensation of global unity: a lack of division between “me” and “them.” Can Psychedelics Treat Trauma

Many spiritual disciplines strive for this sense of oneness and connection as a level of enlightenment or spiritual insight and a method to alleviate suffering.

Pahnke and Groff, researchers and psychedelic supporters describe the “psychedelic peak experience” as a profound mystical encounter that occurs on rare occasions, not necessarily in every high-dose session.

A sense of unification, a profound euphoric or joyful mood, a sense of revelation or clarity. The transcendence of time and space, and a sense of sanctity or deep connection are some of these experiences.

Peak experiences are also associated with long-term improvements in a variety of areas, including one’s connection with oneself and others, as well as a more positive overall view.

Once the effects of the drug have worn off, it is common to describe a condition of increased mood and a positive perspective. This is referred to as the psychedelic afterglow.

Formation of New Neural Pathways

Modern neuroimaging and brain activity monitoring tools, such as fMRIs and EEGs. Have enabled researchers to examine the brain’s activity and changes while under the influence of various psychedelic compounds.

Although this study is still in its early stages, there is abundant evidence that traditional psychedelics such as ayahuasca, psilocybin, and LSD have powerful antidepressant and anxiolytic qualities.

Although this essay focuses on trauma, depression, and anxiety are common comorbidities of unresolved trauma and PTSD. The treatment and management of these diseases are thus crucial to trauma rehabilitation.

These medicines can help reduce sadness and anxiety through a variety of neurological routes. Here are a few examples:

Inhibiting Activity in the Amygdala

The amygdala is a region at the brain’s base that is in charge of emotional processing and reaction. Individuals suffering from serious depressive disorders and PTSD frequently have amygdala hyperactivity.

Classical psychedelics, like antidepressants, increase inhibition of the amygdala, restoring balance to an overactive amygdala. This amygdala suppression also reduces the reaction to threat-like stimuli, which might minimize anxiety and suffering when confronted with triggering memories or situations that can be highly activating for trauma survivors.

Strong connection in the default mode network encourages negative rumination and negative self-thought thinking patterns. Depression and anxiety have been connected to hyperconnectivity.

The default mode network rumination pattern can manifest itself in persistent thoughts of self-blame, guilt, dread, and distrust coming from the trauma-inducing event or set of events in persons suffering from the impacts of a traumatic experience.

Increased Neuroplasticity

The ability of the brain to adapt and change connections is referred to as neuroplasticity.

Poor or aberrant neuroplasticity is a physiological feature of mood disorders including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This can impair learning and focus, as well as the ability to reframe mental processes and adapt to new conditions.

Chronic stress (common in PTSD patients and those suffering from varying degrees of trauma) can contribute to cognitive function anomalies, including neuroplasticity pathways.

Because of their propensity to enhance glutamate levels in the brain’s prefrontal cortex and limbic system circuits, substances such as psilocybin and ketamine have demonstrated the potential to promote neuroplasticity.

This capacity can assist patients in developing new pathways that lead to newly learned methods of coping and responding to stimuli. Increased neuroplasticity can assist patients in developing and integrating new self-soothing and resilience methods, which are critical components of rehabilitation.

Memory Reconsolidation

Memory reconsolidation is the process of recalling and then storing memories. This is done to guarantee that the information we maintain is as trustworthy as possible.

In a normal condition, this assists us in carrying out everyday activities and remembering previous learnings, much like a rehearsal or review. However, when traumatic memories emerge and reconsolidate, the sensations of threat have the potential to get greater as the memory travels through reconsolidation loops.

Treatments with the capacity to impair memory reconsolidation may be able to help with PTSD therapy, and various psychedelic drugs may help with memory reconsolidation treatments.

Fear Extinction

The practice of gradually diminishing stress reactions to a given stimulus is known as fear extinction.

Exposure therapy and systematic desensitization use this principle to treat various anxiety disorders by gradually exposing a patient to varying degrees of the triggering circumstance while ensuring safety. This can gradually lessen the neurological system’s activation of emotional stress reactions.

Because some psychedelics have been found to lower fear reactions, safe and regulated exposure can improve processes of coping with triggering situations.
Many psychedelic compounds have been proven to aid in the process of fear extinction. These methods may have the potential to help trauma patients regain the ability to respond in a healthier manner to intrusive memories or triggering situations that may interfere with day-to-day life if done in a regulated and safe manner to reduce the risk of re-traumatizing or triggering the patient.

Which Psychedelics Can Help With Trauma Recovery?

Since its peak in the 1960s, research on the use of psychedelics in the psychotherapeutic environment has faced a number of challenges.

Despite the fact that many of these drugs have been used for decades if not millennia, current scientific study and standardization of their safe usage still have a long way to go, with certain chemicals receiving significantly more extensive investigation than others.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most widely utilized and observed psychedelics in trauma processing and rehabilitation.

LSD For Healing Trauma

In the 1940s and 1960s, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) was one of the most investigated and examined chemicals.

LSD’s usage for psychotherapy has been investigated and experimented with by some of the largest names in the psychedelic world since its synthesis in 1938, owing to Albert Hoffman’s efforts.

LSD is well-known for its capacity to recover suppressed memories. Accessing the whole of the painful memories was thought to be a critical aspect of the rehabilitation process in classical psychoanalysis. Therapists such as Groff saw it as a tool for confronting previous traumatic experiences, and they felt that when paired with therapy, it may help recover and organize painful memories in order to generate an accurate, structured, and thorough image of the events.

Many modern therapists have now abandoned this strategy due to the great danger of re-traumatizing and further harming a patient’s psyche. While memories can help us comprehend and integrate difficult experiences, repression of overpowering memories is the psyche’s protective strategy to keep us safe, thus accessing these memories is not without danger.

Those who have a history of trauma (known or unknown) and wish to take LSD as a form of rehabilitation must do so in a safe environment with tools and support to bear and process the experience. As a result, LSD-assisted psychotherapy is typically delivered as an immersive session, complete with the essential preparations and follow-up therapeutic integration.

lsd post-traumatic stress disorder

LSD is recognized to be a trigger for spiritual or mystical experiences, in addition to its ability to recall repressed memories. Users usually express a sense of togetherness and universal connectivity. The mystical experience, as we discussed previously in the essay, can be a catalyst for healing, and the peak experience and its subsequent afterglow can augment the therapeutic process.

LSD has been found in studies to attenuate high emotional activity in the amygdala when persons are exposed to fear-inducing stimuli. This reduction in fear reaction can help to build a stronger frame for dealing with emotionally demanding memories, such as those tainted by trauma.

Though LSD-assisted therapy research has only recently rekindled in the last decade, current clinical trials are being conducted by organizations such as MAPS, which has now successfully completed their phase 2 pilot study showing positive results in anxiety management in subjects after only two sessions of LSD-assisted psychotherapy.

additional study is needed, as with most of these chemicals, before these therapies can be safely integrated into the mainstream of psychotherapeutic practice, but additional studies are planned, and the field is progressing faster than it has since the 1960s prohibition. Can Psychedelics Treat Trauma

MDMA For Healing Trauma

MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is prized in the therapeutic area for its ability to lessen fear reactions in triggering situations while also promoting introspection. As a result, the possible use of MDMA in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has attracted the curiosity of the psychiatric community.

Psychotherapy is the primary line of treatment for PTSD, and it has been shown to be more beneficial than a pharmaceutical strategy based on SSRIs. However, complete recovery is difficult and frequently not attained.

Clinical studies have indicated that several forms of trauma-focused psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure treatments, have a recovery rate of 67% for individuals who have finished a full treatment round. In contrast, just 54% of individuals who only partially finished it recovered.

Patients with PTSD demonstrated encouraging improvements in MAPS’ first clinical study using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Following a series of therapeutic doses combined with psychotherapy sessions, 83% of individuals in the MDMA group demonstrated clinically meaningful improvement, whereas only 25% of those in the placebo group did.

While both groups got high-quality therapy care, the group that received the MDMA dosage had a much greater incidence of symptom alleviation. These findings alone should motivate more research into the efficacy of MDMA for trauma recovery.

MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder

MAPS has recently completed a successful phase 3 study, which was a stepping stone toward the FDA’s ultimate approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD patients.

MDMA appears to have an effect on emotional processing brain processes as well. The effects of MDMA in the brain appear to be most active in the amygdala and hippocampus, two regions that are highly engaged with emotional processing and memory, according to fMRI scans.

This implies that it has the capacity to change how memories are viewed. In fact, while on MDMA, research participants claimed that terrible memories were less negative and good recollections were more euphoric, vivid, and heightened. This might be a useful tool for trauma processing and memory reframing.

MDMA has also been demonstrated to boost frontal brain activity, which is commonly decreased in individuals suffering from severe trauma or PTSD.

Psilocybin For Healing Trauma

Psilocybin, the primary ingredient in magic mushrooms, has also been used successfully to treat anxiety and depression.

Although research on the efficacy of psilocybin in trauma recovery is still in its early stages, earlier studies have indicated that the therapeutic use of magic mushrooms increases neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. Because of the increased neuroplasticity, this can result in immediate antidepressant effects.

Psilocybin, like LSD and MDMA, appears to reduce activity in the amygdala. Because persons with PTSD frequently have higher amygdala activity, this impact may improve nervous and emotional control and assist in the trauma integration process.

Ketamine For Healing Trauma

Although ketamine is not a psychedelic drug, its usage has been classified as a psychedelic treatment due to its comparable effects on the brain, particularly its significant impact on neuroplasticity.

Ketamine has been studied in psychiatric settings since the early 2000s, and it was licensed by the FDA in March 2019 to treat treatment-resistant depression.

Ketamine has a very quick onset of action, and patients observe effects after only one dosage. It swiftly penetrates the blood-brain barrier and operates via several signaling channels. It primarily binds to glutamate receptors, which have a role in the control of synaptic plasticity, memory, and new learning.
As we’ve seen with LSD and psilocybin, increased synaptic plasticity can aid in therapeutic procedures and the reprocessing of emotionally difficult situations.

Ketamine research for trauma-specific reasons is still in its early stages. In 2014, trials comparable to those evaluating the use of ketamine for depression revealed that ketamine might have a good effect on people with confirmed PTSD, with considerable remission of symptoms lasting up to two weeks.

Inner healing ketamine therapy

Ketamine can also be used to directly target distressing memories. The effects of ketamine on glutamate signaling can interfere with memory access and processing. Ketamine has been shown in several tests to inhibit memory reconsolidation.

Although ketamine has shown encouraging short-term outcomes in clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression. Research on this chemical as an aid for trauma rehabilitation is still in its infancy and has thus far been limited to animal studies.

It is important to note that the therapeutic use of ketamine is primarily based on the rapidly increased synaptic plasticity that allows for the rewiring of neural pathways; however, the window of this intense receptivity to new neural pathways and connections is short (a week or two), and the positive effects of the treatment may fade almost completely if intervention and proper therapeutic support are not promptly administered.

DMT For Healing Trauma

DMT (dimethyltryptamine) has been employed as a method of healing and wisdom seen by indigenous societies in South America for generations. It is important in the spiritual activities of many of these communities.

DMT experiences in various contexts are recognized for their strong effects not just during the ceremony but also for a month-long afterglow.

Despite the fact that DMT, like other classic psychedelics, is known to have antidepressant and anxiolytic effects, research in this area is quite restricted.

Psychiatrists, neurologists, and mental health specialists are interested in two kinds of DMT preparation: ayahuasca and bufo toad venom (5-MeO-DMT).

DMT, like psilocybin and LSD, is a serotonin receptor agonist with immediate antidepressant and mood-enhancing effects. Several studies have found that participating in ayahuasca or Bufo toad rituals significantly reduces subjective depression measures.

Ayahuasca is a plant drink used in rites and ceremonies by Amazonian indigenous cultures, usually under the supervision of a shaman. Although ayahuasca ceremonies have grown in popularity and attracted a big number of tourists to the Amazon jungle, clinical studies on their safety and efficacy are restricted, in part owing to international restrictions that prohibit their usage.

In terms of therapeutic application for trauma recovery, it is thought that ayahuasca affects memory reconsolidation and increases fear extinction, resulting in a reduction in the intensity of painful memories during memory updating.

5-meO-DMT (Bufo Toad Venom)

Inhaling 5-meO-DMT is another widespread technique in spiritual and therapeutic contexts.

The Bufo alvarius toad, which is native to the southwestern states of Arizona, Colorado, and California, as well as northern Mexico, secretes a deadly venom that has been gathered and utilized for millennia for its intense hallucinogenic effects.

A single dosage of 5-meO-DMT has been shown to considerably improve mindfulness abilities in addition to its antidepressant and anxiolytic benefits. This might aid trauma recovery through mindfulness-based, cognitive-behavioral techniques that assist the patient in decentering from the traumatic experience and seeing it as a past experience without connecting with it or physiologically reliving it when provoked.

5-meO-DMT, like ayahuasca, is a schedule 1 drug in North America, and clinical research on its effects is limited; yet, it has intriguing therapeutic promise.

A Brief History of Psychedelics in Healing Spaces

Although psychedelic therapy is becoming more famous in popular culture, mind-altering chemicals are not new to healing environments. Plant medicines have been used to reach altered states of consciousness for millennia and have been a component of cultural traditions from time immemorial.

The Vedas, an ancient Hindu literature collection ranging from 1500 to 800 BCE, reference “Soma,” a hallucinogenic drink used in Vedic spiritual rites. Researchers have contested the drink’s actual nature, originally assuming that it was prepared from the Amanita muscaria fungus.

Terence Mckenna would subsequently argue that this old magical brew was most likely produced from Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, sometimes known as magic mushrooms.

In ancient Greek initiation rituals, young males were given a wheat drink that was infested with Ergot fungus, a chemical that closely mimics LSD.

The Americas did not lag far behind. The ceremonial usage of cacti endemic to Central America, such as mescaline, has archeological evidence dating back about 5000 years, and local populations across the Amazon rainforest are famed for their Ayahuasca rites, a tradition with at least 1000 years of evidence.

Needless to say, the usage of psychedelics predated their use in post-colonial Western civilizations, but they have seeped into all cultures over the previous centuries, and psychedelic use is now ubiquitous worldwide.

Counterculture Movement & Changing Paradigms

The 1960s saw the rise of psychedelia. Not only was the hippie counterculture greatly inspired by the usage of psychedelic chemicals, but also by reminiscences of ancient societies that employed them as part of their spiritual rituals.

mental research was thriving during this period of paradigm shifts, with encouraging findings concerning the usefulness of psychedelics in treating mental issues.

Between 1950 and 1967, psychedelic research was rife, with famous names like Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), and Stanislav Grof pioneering the use of psychedelics (mostly LSD) as a strong tool to aid psychotherapy.

USA Bans Psychedelics & Psychedelic Research

During the civil rights movement, anti-war rallies, sexual liberation activism, and general counterculture revolt, the US government battled back against the use of recreational drugs (particularly marijuana and LSD), claiming that they promoted disobedience, violence, and damage.

MK Ultra was a decades-long project that used LSD as a possible intelligence weapon to modify their targets’ minds. This operation only made matters worse when it was learned that the government was injecting innocent folks at random. The United States government outlawed the use of LSD in 1967 and withdrew any prior government funds to explore its psychiatric advantages.

Countries all throughout the world followed the lead of the United States, and LSD (along with many other psychedelics) became a Schedule 1 drug despite scant proof of harm.

With the banning of psychedelic substances, research came to a standstill.

Current Efforts in Psychedelic Therapy For Healing Trauma

Since the beginning of the drug war in the late 1960s, the last decade has seen a sort of renaissance of psychedelic study.

The decriminalization of drugs and the restoration of legal routes for psychedelic research have created an opportunity to restart previously suspended research.

MAPS, the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Study, and the Stanford Psychedelic Group, to mention a few, have returned to study with the hope of improving psychiatric therapies.

Renowned names in the health and psychotherapy fields, including Gabor Mate, Bessel van der Kolk, and Peter Levine, are proponents of psychedelic use within a therapeutic context, and recognized educational institutions, including Naropa University, CIIS, Fluence, and MAPS, now offer programs in psychedelic-assisted therapy and psychedelic integration counseling.

Current Legal Status of Psychedelics in the US

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You can read and know the legality of Psychedelics in the US. Where can you legally buy magic mushrooms

What’s Next for Psychedelics & Trauma?

As previously noted, research in psychedelic treatment is typically restricted and has a long way to go. While several studies and attempts have demonstrated solid evidence to support the use of psychedelics to treat anxiety and depression, little research has been conducted on trauma-specific applications of these drugs. Can Psychedelics Treat Trauma

As of now, MDMA is the only substance that has been approved by the FDA as a breakthrough therapy for PTSD, but other substances, while still used in therapeutic settings around the world with promising reported effects, are lagging in research specific to their efficacy and safety in trauma healing.
People all over the world, including mental health professionals, are still advocating for the use of psychedelics as a means of self-discovery and healing, and some are even facilitating guided experiences as part of their practices.

More study is undoubtedly needed in this sector, and groups like Compass Pathways, MAPS, and others across the world are beginning to explore the possibilities of various psychedelic chemicals in trauma healing.

To say the least, interest in this sector is exploding, and new research and activities are beginning to react.

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