1 of 2 Image of Ecstasy tablets — Photo: Federal Police/Disclosure Image of Ecstasy tablets — Photo: Federal Police/Disclosure
Substances such as LSD, psilocybin (derived from mushrooms) and DMT (derived from plants) have been banned worldwide since they were banned in 1971 by a United Nations (UN) convention.
However, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the number of supporters of the use of these substances in psychotherapy has increased among Ukrainian therapists. Because with the war, cases of serious mental illnesses also increased.
👉 Psychotherapists confirmed to DW that these substances are being used increasingly frequently, particularly in the treatment of soldiers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to frontline combat.
Experts are urging the Ukrainian parliament to officially approve the use of these substances in treatments.
The director of the Veterans Treatment Center at the Ministry of Health, Ksenia Voznitsyna, hopes that parliamentarians will set guidelines to allow the use of psychedelic substances for PTSD and is optimistic about the possibility of release.
“A normal psychotherapy session lasts one hour, maximum two. A person with psychological trauma needs many sessions. That’s why therapy usually lasts one to two years,” he says.
Therapy supported by psychedelic substances can accelerate the healing process. “This is even more important because, due to the war, we are dealing with complicated cases that cannot be treated with conventional treatment methods,” argues Voznitsyna.
👉However, she makes a caveat: “It is not the drug that cures, but the therapy”, that is, the psychotherapy session that takes place while the patient is under the effects of a drug such as psilocybin or MDMA (popularly known as ecstasy) .
Such therapy can only be carried out in medical centers. It lasts up to eight hours and requires supervision and control by professional psychotherapists.
Hallucinogenic substances are the scientific remedy for depression and posttraumatic stress
Legalization of therapeutic use
Ukraine is the new arena of a debate that has driven supporters and opponents of the use of drugs in psychotherapy for decades. And the proponents are encountering strong resistance from the opponents.
But the lobby for the use of medication in psychotherapy is becoming increasingly stronger, particularly in the USA. Experts assume that the country will grant approval in 2024.
👉Proponents of this practice include the Armed Forces War Veterans Organization and the Department of Veterans Affairs, a US federal agency.
This would be a decision with possible consequences for the therapeutic use of other banned drugs. Well, why should some continue to be banned when one is allowed?
The legalization of the use of MDMA in psychotherapy gained momentum with the publication of a phase III study in the journal Nature. Successful phase 3 studies are often the final step on the path to approval of a drug.
The MDMA “safety and effectiveness” study concluded that the substance “reduced PTSD symptoms and functional impairment in a diverse population with moderate to severe PTSD and was generally well tolerated.”
Similar studies with MDMA and psilocybin are also being carried out in Europe, assures the European Medicines Agency (EMA). EMA director Emer Cooke told the European Parliament that the agency recognizes the need to support and work with developers of psychedelics.
2 of 2 Image of LSD Photo: Istock/BBC Image of LSD Photo: Istock/BBC
Psilocybin in the early stages of the disease
In Germany, a study on psilocybin therapy from socalled “magic mushrooms” is nearing completion. “We are testing the effectiveness and safety of psilocybin in treatmentresistant depression,” says psychiatrist Gerhard Gründer from the Mannheim Medical Faculty.
“On the surface, we can say that we are seeing good results in a small number of patients,” says Gründer.
However, many patients do not see any improvement, which he attributes to the fact that they have been suffering from severe depression for a long time. “The conclusion of the study for us is that we can treat early stages of the disease.”
Founder recognizes that the use of MDMA in the trauma therapy of war veterans has achieved good results, but is skeptical about the use of other substances. He remembers that MDMA does not belong to the group of psychedelics.
Substances like psilocybin “are not used in most clinical trials for posttraumatic stress disorder because of fear of retraumatization,” he says.
He also criticizes therapy in the middle of war. “I think it’s extremely questionable from an ethical perspective that something like this would be safe in a war zone.”