Treating Depression And Battling The Demons Depression Can Bring

Many people make their way into their doctor's office with complaints of fatigue, anxiety, or lack of energy, drive and focus. Draulio de Araujo, a neuroscientist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal, Brazil, and a co-author of the study, says that his team has already treated 46 (out of a planned 80) patients in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of ayahuasca and depression that began in January 2014.

On two separate occasions during the nine-month study, which is being funded by the Heffter Research Institute, patients are given a silver chalice containing either a psilocybin pill or a placebo. Mental health problems are common, and treatment resistant mental health problems are particularly disabling, leading to personal burdens, burdens on carers and family and wider society.

But we know enough to say that psychedelics are powerful tools for reducing suffering at least for some people. During the therapy sessions, patients are encouraged to follow the stream of the psychedelic experience which can be extremely vivid and may require them to confront past traumas or experiences.

I have numerous relatives with bipolar disorder, and I am often one of the few lay people in the crowd at the annual Mood Disorders Symposiums at Johns Hopkins. Other promising, though more preliminary, results suggests that the hallucinogenic drug LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and a plant-based brew called ayahuasca may also be effective in treating psychiatric disorders.

The common virus, spread by kissing, was linked to the mental disorder by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. The aim of this work is to understand how an infamous class of mind-altering substances—the psychedelics—may actually be a powerful tool for treating certain forms of psychological suffering.

If you have read Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind or seen the first episode of Gwyneth Paltrow's Netflix series, The Goop Lab (titled The Healing Trip), you may be aware that such developments reflect a rising interest, and investment, in the mental health application of psychedelic drugs.

He found that what the psychedelics did in about 80% of cases was induce treatments a mystical experience, which is a spiritual experience that was studied closely by William James 100 years ago. Lavender essential oil has a calming scent which makes it an excellent tonic for the nerves and helps in treating migraines, headaches, anxiety, depression, nervous tension and emotional stress.