Psychedelics’ Long Strange Trip to the Doctor’s Office
Some psychiatrists and patients have all but begged the FDA to approve psychedelics to help treat severe mental illnesses. What’s the hold-up?
Listen & Subscribe
Choose your preferred player:
Get Your Slate Plus Podcast
If you can't access your feeds, please contact customer support.
Listen on your computer:
Apple Podcasts will only work on MacOS operating systems since Catalina. We do not support Android apps on desktop at this time.
Listen on your device:RECOMMENDED
These links will only work if you're on the device you listen to podcasts on.
Set up manually:
Episode Notes
For years, psychiatrists have been researching new methods to help people with treatment-resistant mental illness. These include severe cases of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other debilitating diagnoses. One type of drug has seen some positive results in clinical trials: psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and LSD. In professional medical settings, they’re used as a part of a multifaceted approach to mental health treatment, including supervised therapy sessions while a patient is on a drug.
Recently the pharmaceutical manufacturer Lykos petitioned the FDA to approve the psychedelic MDMA as a part of caring for treatment-resistant PTSD. Earlier this month, an advisory committee to the FDA released their vote of rejecting to approve the drug. Now it’s up to the FDA to make the final call, but the odds are not in the favor of Lykos and many psychiatrists and patients who’ve seen positive outcomes as a result of these MDMA-assisted trials.
Psychiatrist and entrepreneur Dave Rabin is one of the doctors pushing to approve psychedelic-assisted therapy.
On this week’s episode of Well, Now we ask him about the results of his trials using psychedelics in therapy as well as what he thinks the future holds for this field as we wait for the FDA’s final verdict.
If you liked this episode, check out: “As Little Regulation As Guns”: How Social Media Hurts Youth Mental Health
Well, Now is hosted by Dr. Kavita Patel and registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller.
Editing and podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry, with support this week from Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola.
Editorial oversight from Alicia Montgomery, Vice President of Slate Audio.
Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com.