Psychedelics in the context of stress and psychiatric disorders: A new horizon in mental health treatment

Stress-related psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety, and PTSD are widespread and poorly treated. Psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA are being reconsidered as therapies because they alter consciousness, boost neuroplasticity, and affect emotional processing and serotonin systems. This perspective paper argues that these substances could help treat stress-related conditions and calls for a fundamental shift in how scientists and clinicians understand the link between psychedelics, stress, and mental health.

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Abstract

Psychiatric illness, particularly stress-related disorders including depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, presents a considerable health burden worldwide with high prevalence, disabling symptoms, and scant efficacy of available treatments. Chronic stress is a major contributor to the origin and development of these conditions, to the detriment of both individual and, by extension, public health. More recently, psychedelics such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) have gained attention as potential therapeutic tools, mainly because of their ability to elicit altered states of consciousness and their impact on neuroplasticity, emotional processing, and serotonin pathways. This perspective paper discusses the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of these substances, their potential utility for treating stress-related psychiatric disorders, and the need for a paradigm shift in the prevailing view of the intricate relationship between psychedelics, stress, and mental well-being.