Chrysalis^® News

From the origins of mental health studies and counselling training principles in the 1940s to the early 1970s, psychoactive drugs such as MDMA, psychlobin and LSD were seen as a promising realm of research into mental and emotional health.

However after recreational use of these substances became increasingly widespread, they were prohibited from public consumption and the associated stigma caused mainstream scientific research to shy away from their possible therapeutic benefits.

Yet following new insights gained through animal studies and the advance of brain imaging techniques, New Scientist reports that credible scientific researchers are once again investigating the potential benefits of these chemicals.

According to New Scientist, trials on the potential of LSD and the psychoactive component of "magic mushrooms", psilocybin, are now under way in the US and in Switzerland. These international trials are investigating if the substances can help terminal cancer patients deal with the illness-related anxiety and depression experienced by many.

Furthermore, a study at Hanover Medical School in Germany is reportedly investigating whether a non-psychoactive form of LSD - still illicit under drug prohibition laws - is useful in treating headaches, whist a study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, is investigating whether psilocybin could be useful as a smoking cessation aid. The team of researchers led by Professor Roland Griffiths are reportedly studying how the substance could assist psychotherapy in treating substance addiction.

If these studies bear fruit, it is possible and even probable that their therapeutic use could be introduced to counselling services across the developed world. If so, then the proper use of these compounds could well become a new branch of the training offered by psychotherapy courses.

Of course, the fears over psychoactive effects which led to their prohibition still remain when these drugs are considered for medicinal use. Ken Checinski, a researcher into addictive behaviour at the University of London, said: "The psychiatric risks of these substances are well known. There may be a narrow therapeutic window between potential benefits and significant adverse effects."

Other scientists, such as Californian psychiatrist Michael Mithoefer, argue that this problem certainly isn't unique to psychoactive drugs and governments should look past the stigma to investigate their potential benefits. "We use many things in medicine that can be misused and very dangerous in the wrong doses," Mithoefer told New Scientist.