In the following sections, we will consider how fMRI paradigms can be employed to investigate the effect of psychedelic therapy on addiction-related processes and treatment response in the context of clinical studies. In clinical trials with classic psychedelics like psilocybin, a high dose, monitored entheogenic experience with clinical support is being shown to help people break addictive relationships with substances like alcohol, tobacco, and cocaine. For example, at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, clinical psychologist and researcher, Peter Hendricks, and his team are finishing up a study on psilocybin-assisted therapy for cocaine addiction, and their preliminary results are quite striking. Although they haven’t completed their data collection yet, Hendricks says they have looked at the first 10 participants, six of whom received are psychedelics addictive psilocybin and four a placebo.
These findings highlight increased hypothalamus and substantia nigra DRD3 in alcohol dependence and stimulant use disorder, respectively, and have led to the development of novel interventions such as the DRD3 antagonist. In the following sections, we will discuss how advancements in biomedical science, with a particular focus on in-human neuropsychopharmacology studies, have been instrumental in our understanding of the mechanisms and processes of addiction. We will discuss how these tools can be leveraged to optimize the development of psychedelic therapies profitably for addiction and how they lend themselves to personalized medicine and precision psychiatry efforts. It is important to note that the literature on human neurobiological psychedelic mechanisms in addiction is sparse. These data were supplemented with an analysis of the psychological mechanisms of KPT, which reported harmonization of personality traits, emotional attitudes to self and others, positive changes in life and purpose and an increase in insight and spirituality (27).
Either because they find AA to be too restrictive, or like in the case of Ethan Covey, photographer and co-Founder of the Psychedelic Sangha group in NYC, they get the help they need from AA, but eventually outgrow it and are ready to move on. In Covey’s case, after four and a half years of following the program, he felt confident that his mindset and lifestyle had changed enough – away from his destructive addictive behaviors that opioids caused him – to cautiously dip his toes in psychedelic waters for personal and spiritual growth. “I really felt like I learned the lessons that I needed to learn regarding my own addictive behaviors. And I started questioning whether the appropriate response to that was just to continue to check off time,” he says.
Earlier this year, the National Institute on Drug Abuse gave a $2.7 million grant to research on psychedelics for addiction.5 As these therapies move from research into clinical practice – it’s essential for more clinicians to be educated in the principles of psychedelic therapy. Kevin Franciotti, who’s involved in a similar group on the East Coast, Psychedelics in Recovery, that’s now mostly an online community, tells me many members of his group are seeking out psychedelics for similar reasons. Although he couldn’t get into too much detail to protect folks’ anonymity, he says psychedelics have been helpful for people in recovery for a number of reasons, including “cultivating a conscious contact with a higher power of their understanding, which is a key component of 12 step recovery. And admitting powerlessness and then seeking the guidance from a trusting and loving power greater than oneself.” Franciotti also says he’s heard of a member using mushrooms for deeper insights into AA “step work”. For example, when it’s time to make amends with the people in their lives who they hurt with their addiction and related behaviors, they go to a mushroom trip to help them realize who else they might have hurt that they’re forgetting.
We recognize the potential Drug rehabilitation of psychedelics and plant medicines as transformative tools that can enhance the recovery process. Psychedelics in Recovery is a 12-step fellowship of people from all 12-step programs and other paths of recovery who share our experience, strength and hope with each other. Our primary purpose is to pursue recovery and help others do the same, as defined by the individual. The only requirement for membership is a desire to recover from our addictive behaviors and/or an interest in psychedelics as an aid to our process of recovery.
This case highlights the important role that worldviews can have in psychedelic PAEs, and the importance of assessing and non-judgmentally addressing patients’ spiritual, existential, religious, and theological worldviews in clinical care to address PAEs 36. Worldviews provide a framework for understanding distressing experiences but also guidance on what to do about them. Westerners in psychedelic use settings may navigate multiple internalized worldviews simultaneously, selectively determining which takes precedence in what situations. Dr. A’s continued ambivalence towards the psychiatric treatment that she sought out after her schism with the leaders may be consistent with her negotiation of conflicting worldviews. Psychedelic-assisted therapy has gained growing interest to improve a range of mental health outcomes. In response, numerous training programs have formed to train the necessary workforce to deliver psychedelic therapy.
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