Medical benefits of psychedelics

If you suffer from difficult to treat psychological, emotional and quality of life issues like death anxiety, early life abuse and trauma, posttraumatic stress, chemical addictions, depression, or anxiety, then I’m able to inform you that psychedelics have demonstrated significant medical and quality of life benefits for people suffering from such maladies.

A select list of hyperlinked medical and scientific publications and books are provided below (many are free). These appear amongst the most often cited publications in the field and in my view represent the best of them (books aside). Clinical testing has only recently resumed after decades of absence so the science is still emerging i.e., this is not yet medical mainstream. That said I believe the data tells us psychedelics provide significant benefits in treating psychological conditions and emotional disorders that afflict sizable human populations.

You can review the following publications to see for yourself.

My all time favourite psychedelic, healing and consciousness author is Stanislav Grof. Grof is one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology, and he has worked diligently for decades in treating/healing patients with LSD psychotherapy and Holotropic Breath Work for accessing altered states of consciousness. What Stanislav writes about I experience!

Safety

1. Guidelines for safety http://csp.org/psilocybin/HopkinsHallucinogenSafety2008.pdf
2. Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3747247/pdf/pone.0063972.pdf
3. Erich Studerus et al. Acute, subacute and long-term subjective effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: A pooled analysis of experimental studies.
4. REGINALD G. SMART, Ph.D.* and KAREN BATEMAN, B.A. Unfavourable Reactions to LSD: A Review and Analysis of the Available Case Reports. Canadian Med. Ass. Journal. Nov. 11, 1967, vol. 97.

General Psychedelic-Medical References

1. Roland R. Griffiths & Charles S. Grob. Hallucinogens as Medicine.
2. Charles S. Grob, M.D. Psychiatric Research with Hallucinogens: What have we learned? The Heffter Review of Psychedelic Research, Volume 1, 1998.
3. A good general psychedelic publication resources: http://www.druglibrary.org and http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/lsdmenu.htm
4. Personality changes: http://www.csp.org/psilocybin/Psilocybin-Openness2011.pdf
5. Peter S Hendricks et al. Reduced suicidality: Classic psychedelic use is associated with reduced psychological distress and suicidality in the United States adult population.
6. Stanislav Grof: http://www.amazon.com/Psychotherapy-Healing-Potential-Psychedelic-Medicine/dp/0979862205, and http://www.amazon.com/LSD-Numinous-Groundbreaking-Psychedelic-Unconscious/dp/1594772827/, and http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Emergency-Personal-Transformation-Consciousness/dp/0874775388/
7. https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/47337/the-ten-lessons-psychedelic-psychotherapy-rediscovered.pdf
8. http://www.nealgoldsmith.com/media/Ten_Lessons_of_Psychedelic_Psychotherapy,_Rediscovered.pdf
9. Thomas B. Roberts and Michael J. Winkelman. Psychedelic Induced Transpersonal Experiences, Therapies, and Their Implications for Transpersonal Psychology.

Magic Mushrooms (view the clinical effects and side effect data and information, and as you wish)

1. Erich Studerus et al. Acute, subacute and long-term subjective effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: A pooled analysis of experimental studies.
2. Personality changes: http://www.csp.org/psilocybin/Psilocybin-Openness2011.pdf
3. Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: A proof-of-concept study.
4. Matthew W Johnson, Roland R Griffiths et al. Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction. Journal of Psychopharmacology.
5. The use of psilocybin in patients with advanced cancer and existential anxiety http://www.csam-asam.org/sites/default/files/pdf/misc/Grob_Article.pdf
6. Stephen Ross, MD. Psilocybin at the End of Life: A Doorway to Peace.  noetic.org
7. Francisco A. Moreno, M.D. Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of Psilocybin in 9 Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Death Anxiety, End-of-Life, and Cancer anxiety and existential:

1. Stanislav Grof. The Human Encounter with Death Paperback – March 29, 1978, and click here.
2. Stanislav Grof. M.D., Ph.D. The Experience of Death and Dying: Psychological, Philosophical, and Spiritual Aspects.
3. The use of psilocybin in patients with advanced cancer and existential anxiety http://www.csam-asam.org/sites/default/files/pdf/misc/Grob_Article.pdf
4. Stephen Ross, MD. Psilocybin at the End of Life: A Doorway to Peace.  noetic.org
5. Charles S. Grob. Psilocybin in patients with advanced cancer and existential crisis.
6. Peter Gasser et al. LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: A qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects.
7. Varsha Dutta. Repression of death consciousness and the psychedelic trip. Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics, 2012 – Volume 8, Issue 3.
8. Walter N. Pahnke. The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter With Death.

Mood, Depression, and Anxiety

1. David Baumeister et al. Classical hallucinogens as antidepressants? A review of pharmacodynamics and putative clinical roles.
2. Franz X. Vollenweider, Michael Kometer. The neurobiology of psychedelic drugs: implications for the treatment of mood disorders.
3. Francisco A. Moreno, M.D. Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of Psilocybin in 9 Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
4. Vaishnav Krishnan & Eric J. Nestler. The molecular neurobiology of depression. NATURE|Vol 455|16 October 2008|doi:10.1038/nature07455.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

1. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) are studying whether MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can help heal the psychological and emotional damage caused by sexual assault, war, violent crime, and other traumas.
2. Michael C. Mithoefer, M.D et al. MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. A Revised Teaching Manual Revised November 30, 2011.
3. Mark T Wagner et al. The safety and efficacy of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study.

4. Michael C Mithoefer et al. Durability of improvement in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and absence of harmful effects or drug dependency. Journal of Psychopharmacology after 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine assisted psychotherapy: a prospective long-term follow-up study.

Substance Abuse and Addictions:

1. Studying the Effects of Classic Hallucinogens in the Treatment of Alcoholism: Rationale, Methodology, and Current Research with Psilocybin or via click here.
2. Teri S Krebs and Pål-Ørjan Johansen. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Psychopharmacology.
3. Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: A proof-of-concept study.
4. Matthew W Johnson, Roland R Griffiths et al. Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction. Journal of Psychopharmacology.
5. Psychedelics as medicines for substance abuse rehabilitation: evaluating treatments with LSD, Peyote, Ibogaine and Ayahuasca, and click here.
6. Michael P. Bogenschutza, Matthew W. Johnson. Classic hallucinogens in the treatment of addictions. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 14 March 2015, and click here.

Healing, Mind Development

1. Psychedelic Healing: The Promise of Entheogens for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Development.
2. Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma – The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences by Levine, Peter (1997).
3. Donald J. DeGracia, Ph.D. Psychedelic Drugs and the Awakening of Kundalini.