Research

The potential of psychedelic-assisted therapy

The Source •
Ginger Nicol, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry at WashU Medicine, says that psychedelic drugs hold enormous potential for healing currently untreatable mental disorders, but the only way to transform that potential into reality is through rigorous scientific research. As WashU’s only faculty member authorized to work with Schedule 1 drugs, Nicol is the hub through which all such research at WashU must pass. (Photo: Matt Miller/WashU Medicine)
View Content

More than half a century after the U.S. government deemed psychedelic drugs to be of “no medical use,” scientists have begun re-evaluating that dismissive assessment with the tools of modern science. Dozens of clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapies for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other conditions are underway or planned. So far, the results largely verify what Indigenous peoples with cultural traditions of psychedelic use have long known: Psychedelics are best treated not as party drugs but as potent medicines that can provide unique healing benefits when used appropriately.