Could the medicalization of psychedelics lead to the next generation of antidepressants?

Humans have used hallucinogenic substances since prehistoric times, often in religious rituals. In the 1960s, the counterculture centered on psychedelics like LSD, leading to their worldwide prohibition under the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, which limited scientific research. Recently, hints that psychedelics may help treat resistant depression and PTSD have spurred efforts to gather clinical data for potential regulatory approval as medical treatments.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A major part of the counterculture that emerged in western societies in the 1960s centred around the use of mind-altering psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Humans had, however, been consuming hallucinogenic substances since prehistoric times and often incorporated them into their religious rituals. Concerns over the effects of potent psychedelics like LSD led to them being outlawed in many jurisdictions around the world via the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances in 1971. During the intervening decades, the scientific investigation of psychedelics and their potential for legitimate therapeutic use has consequently been limited. In recent years, hints that psychedelics may be effective against certain treatment-resistant depressive states like post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) have led to more concerted efforts to obtain reliable clinical data that could convince drug regulators to approve them as legitimate medical treatments.