Single dose of potent psychedelic drug could help treat depression, trial shows | Medical research
People with major depressive disorder may see a rapid and lasting improvement after a single dose of the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT) when combined with psychotherapy, doctors said.
A small clinical trial involving 34 people found that psychedelic-assisted therapy led to a rapid reduction in depressive symptoms that persisted long after the drug wore off, with some still feeling the benefits six months later.
Psychiatrist from Imperial College London and lead researcher of the study, Dr. “It has an immediate antidepressant effect, and that effect persists significantly over a three-month period, and that’s exciting because it’s a medication session embedded within psychological support,” David Erritzoe said. he said.
Although preliminary, the results add to growing evidence that psychedelic drugs, combined with psychotherapy, may help relieve depression in millions of people worldwide who do not respond to existing antidepressants or treatments.
An estimated 100 million people worldwide have treatment-resistant depression, defined as major depressive disorder that does not respond to at least two antidepressants. About half are unable to perform routine daily tasks.
Hearing, Reported in Nature Medicinefocused on people with moderate to severe treatment-resistant depression. Half were given a single 21.5 mg dose of DMT injected intravenously over 10 minutes. The other half received a placebo infused in the same manner. All participants received psychotherapy and follow-up evaluations.
Based on scores on a standard depression questionnaire, patients given DMT improved significantly compared with the placebo group, and the antidepressant effects lasted three to six months.
DMT is an active ingredient in ayahuasca beer used in shamanic rituals in South America. The drug causes powerful and often mystical hallucinogenic trips that can alter people’s perception of time and space, destroy their sense of self, and prompt meetings with others. extraterrestrials.
In the second phase of the trial, all participants were given a dose of DMT along with the therapy, but researchers found no additional benefit in those who received two doses in total; This suggests that a single dose may be sufficient. The trial was designed, funded and sponsored by Cybin UK, a neuropsychiatry firm.
The study follows a positive trial of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, raising hopes that the drug will be approved to treat depression later this year.
Psychedelics are thought to enhance the effects of psychotherapy by helping people break entrenched and unhelpful thought patterns. Erritzoe likens this effect to shaking snow off a mountain and flattening hills and valleys so people can easily find new routes. “You redistribute the snow so it’s easier to take new routes, and it’s also easier to take new routes because the landscape is flattening,” he said.
At the doses used in the trials, DMT causes a shorter but more intense trip than psilocybin; the experience lasts about 25 minutes, compared to several hours for psilocybin. This may enable clinics to more easily offer DMT-assisted therapy, but patients may need more support to recover, especially after intense DMT journeys.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr. who worked on the psilocybin experiment at King’s College London. If regulators approve psychedelic drugs to treat depression in the United Kingdom, researchers expect they will only be available through private clinics, James Rucker said.
The Feilding commission was set up last year to guide the safe, ethical and fair delivery of psychedelic-assisted treatments, amid concerns that commercial pressures on private clinics could undermine safety and lead to patient harm.
Rucker said: “I don’t know how these drugs will fit into this world of fiscal austerity, stigma, and disdain for anything with the word psychoactive in it. It’s interesting to be a part of, but I can’t say.”
