LSD and other drugs could have therapeutic applications

For some, they are the medium for an otherworldly party. For others, dangerous "one-way" tickets to problems that deserve their illegal status.

But regardless of how people see them and whether politicians and legislators like to admit it or not, the psychoactive drugs begin to show great potential as effective therapies for various problems of mental health, and they could also be a key to expanding our understanding of consciousness.

Discovering the therapeutic use of certain drugs

1. Ketamine

Take for example the case of Ketamine, or "Special K" as it is colloquially known in the UK. Today, Ketamine is widely used in clinical settings as an anesthetic in both animals as in humans, but several studies are also highlighting its remarkable ability to try depressions, bipolar disorders Y suicidal behaviors. Not only that, but they act extraordinarily fast, showing powerful antidepressant effects in just two hours.

2. Cannabis, MDMA, LSD

But that's not all: the cannabis has shown potential in the treatment of

ADHD and the insomnia. The active component in hallucinogenic mushrooms, psilocybin, could be useful in the treatment of addictions, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and depression. For his part, MDMA could relieve those who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson's patients; and the LSD it could mitigate anxiety, alcoholism, or even inflammatory disorders. A rather impressive list that opens the door to reflection on the use of these substances in the medicinal field.

3. Suspicion of drugs as possible therapy

Unfortunately, despite these promising preliminary studies, there is a great barrier in this field of research: attitudes towards drugsAt least in the UK, they make it very difficult to carry out this type of study. Not only are bodies wary of donating money for such experiments, but equally difficult restrictions and regulations to bypass.

Despite this, there are some trying to carry out human experiments on psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, Ketamine, and psilocybin. In parallel with investigating its potential therapeutic use, scientists also hope that by studying how they affect the brain in controlled environments we can unravel some of the mysteries of the consciousness.

4. LSD experiments

One of those scientists who is willing to delve deeper into the human mind through these drugs is David nutt, of Imperial College from London, celebrated Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and former Chief Advisor for Medicines to the British government. Given the continued struggle by academics to secure research funding, and the caution of financial institutions when it comes to research involving the use of illicit substances in humans, Nutt is currently addressing the public through the platform start-up from crowdfunding for scientific purposes Walacea to further his research on LSD, which has resulted from a collaboration with Imperial College London and the Beckley Foundation.

“Despite the incredible potential of this drug to broaden our understanding of the brain, political stigma has silenced the investigation, ”Nutt said in a newscast, referring to the fact that since LSD was banned there has only been one test clinician with LSD. "We should not play politics with promising science that has so much beneficial potential"

5. LSD seems to increase the creativity of our brain

To date, Nutt has already administered moderate doses of LSD to 20 subjects and performed imaging studies of its effect on the brain using a combination of FMRI and MEG. Both of them monitor brain activity, but the latter takes “snapshots” of brain activity, while the MEG is more like a video recording.

These indicate that LSD may behave in a similar way to psilocybin, reducing flux. blood flow to the control centers and therefore damping their activity, which ultimately instance improves brain activity. In doing so, psilocybin appears to encourage regions of the brain that are often separated to begin to communicate with each other, which could be why we see a increase in creativity when using this substance. In any case, we won't know if LSD works in a similar way until the second part of the experiment is completed, and that requires the public to scratch their pockets.