When therapy involves your dead father appearing to wipe away your old personality, something is definitely afoot. In this LA Times piece, Melanie Senn saw exactly that during a psychedelic trip leading to her slow withdrawal from alcohol.
“It wasn’t like an aggressive move,” said Senn. “It was like, ‘Goodbye. We’re going somewhere else. And you cannot take this version of yourself,’” she said.
Psychiatrists and psychologists, most of them who have struggled with releasing addictions in extreme cases, are now looking to magic mushrooms to reduce dependencies.
Early studies have shown promise in treating addiction to tobacco and alcohol, and researchers are now exploring whether psychedelics could help people shake off the need for other substances, both legal and illegal. Money is pouring into the field from corporate investors and philanthropists, and the Food and Drug Administration has deemed psilocybin a potential “breakthrough therapy” for treating depression.
This article discusses the increasing interest in the potential medical uses of psychedelics, such as psilocybin, which has been deemed a potential “breakthrough therapy” for treating depression. It also looks at the potential of psychedelics to treat addiction, with early studies showing promise in treating addiction to tobacco and alcohol. Professor Peter Hendricks, one of the authors of the study, also found that psychedelics were helpful in cocaine dependency.
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