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Psychedelics have been used for centuries by people all over the world to enhance theur mental and spiritual health.

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Psychedelics belong to a class of drugs known as hallucinogenics. Hallucinogens are drugs capable of altering your sense of reality. They can warp your sense of taste, smell, sight, and even time. The modern era of psychedelic use can be traced back to Albert Hofmann, a scientist and researcher who first synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide, more commonly known as LSD, in 1938. Five years later, in 1943, he became the first person to try LSD.

Since this landmark discovery, the use of LSD and other psychedelics has had a long and complicated history. There seem to be polarizing opinions on the benefits and pitfalls of these drugs. On one end of the spectrum are people who think psychedelic drugs might hold the key to treating conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On the other end of the spectrum are people who think the dangers of using psychedelics far outweigh any benefits they might pose.

This article looks at psychedelics' fascinating history since Albert Hofmann first tried LSD in 1943.

Before Albert Hofmann

Albert Hofmann's research signified a breakthrough in the scientific use of psychedelics with the discovery of LSD. However, the use of psychedelics for its purported medical and spiritual benefits long preceded him. In ancient Aztec culture, people took psychedelics in the form of psilocybin mushrooms known as Teonanácatl.

They did this in religious ceremonies to alter their minds and communicate with their gods. In South American culture, psychedelic use has historically been encouraged with the help of a shaman whose role is to guide you through the psychedelic experience.

The 1950s and 1960s

Research into the use of psychedelics was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, right after the discovery of LSD. Scientists and researchers were curious about the supposedly wondrous drug. Ten years after Albert Hofmann tried LSD, in 1953, a psychiatrist called Humphrey Osmond began prescribing LSD to people diagnosed with alcoholism (now known as alcohol use disorder or AUD). He triggered the use of psychedelics for treating AUD among a crop of psychiatrists well into the 1960s.

In that era, scientists believed that the experience of psychedelic therapy could catalyze a rapid and deep change in a person's relationship to their symptoms, value system, and sense of self. Some estimates reveal that psychedelics may have been administered to as many as 40,000 people with varying mental health conditions between 1950 and 1965.

By the mid-1960s, LSD had become a trendy recreational drug used casually for its mind-altering effects. Fearing its potential for misuse, governments issued bans and prohibitions by the decade's end.

The 1970s and 1980s

Government intervention into psychedelics in this era brought research into the drug to a near halt. Although the research carried out in the '50s and '60s revealed that serious adverse effects were relatively rare and some positive results were observed, issued bans, and restrictions.

LSD had become widely available for recreational use, and people feared its potential for abuse. The government also argued that it was an experimental drug with unknown pitfalls. In 1970, the United States Congress passed an act that classified LSD as a schedule one drug.

Schedule I drugs are drugs determined to have the highest potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use; other examples are heroin and ecstasy (MDMA). Of note, marijuana is still considered a Schedule I drug on a federal level, although legal for recreational use in many states.

Use of Psychedelics Today

Research into psychedelics is enjoying another boom these days, spearheaded by scientists and researchers in Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. Though not as widely researched as during the boom in the 1950s and 1960s, researchers are making strides in their progress. Research today has been more in-depth than the research carried out in the past.

Clinical trials have assessed the benefits of methylenedioxymethamphetamine ( MDMA), a synthetic stimulant and psychedelic, in treating depression and PTSD. There's also research into the use of psilocybin (mushrooms) for treating major depressive disorder, addictions, and end-of-life mood disorders.

Some argue that the restrictions that remain in place on the drug's use are hampering research. In contrast, others say that its essential to ensure the safe exploration of the drug's potential benefits. The '50s and '60s may still be seen as the peak of psychedelic research. However, there's increasing research progress into these drug. In March 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved using ketamine, an anesthetic agent with some psychedelic properties, to treat depression.

Also, a phase 3 clinical trial into the use of MDMA to treat severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms was completed in 2022. These phase 3 trials are believed to be a step away from approval for prescription use.

There remains a lot we don't know about how psychedelics work as well as their potential benefits and risks. Taking these agents unsupervised can result in severe and sometimes fatal side effects. As research into these drugs progresses, scientists believe that psychedelics may become a medical mainstay for treating several medical conditions.

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Psychedelics have a long and complicated history of personal and medical use. Learn more about it here.

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There is a rising shift in public opinion to make these substances FDA approved and properly regulated in order to be used medicinally.

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The emergence of psychedelics as medicine

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A proliferation of new research indicates the potential of MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin to help people with treatment-resistant mental health conditions

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This is an ongoing task to research and figure out how these substances affect the brain. Without knowing the cause of something, you can not use it's benefits to your advantage.

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Duke Researchers Probe the Magic of Psychedelics as Medicine

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Duke scholars are studying how hallucinogenic drugs might become alternative treatments for medical-resistant conditions.

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Indigenous 'Spirit medicine' Principles in Psychedelic Research

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Throughout the study of psychedelics indigenous practices and norms must be oberved to maintain respech while studying the substances that have been used for generations.

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Berkeley Changemaker is a Berkeley News series highlighting innovative members of the campus community engaged in work and research that tackles society's most pressing issues.
Yuria Celidwen was born into a family of Indigenous mystics, healers, poets and explorers from the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.

"I grew up with one foot in the wilderness and another in the magical realism of Indigenous culture," said Celdiwen, a native of Indigenous Nahua and Mayan descent. "My Elders' songs and stories enthralled my childhood. They enhanced my mythic imagination and emotional intuition, which became the fertile soil where the seeds of kindness, play and wonder dig their roots."

"[But] we carry intergenerational trauma, and also intergenerational bliss," she added. A result of Indigenous communities' historical colonial oppression, genocide and "the exploitation of our Lands and age-old traditions, and the resilient, Mother Earth-oriented and tightly weaved communities and traditions we preserve."

Those great disparities, Celidwen said, are formative to the research and work she has pursued for the last two decades, collaborating and building coalitions with Indigenous communities from around the world to create community spaces and policy that promote Indigenous Peoples' voices and their time-honored principles.

Today, as a senior fellow at UC Berkeley's Othering and Belonging Institute, Celidwen is exploring how Western institutions can ethically approach the growing research and use of psychedelics as viable medical therapies. She recently led a study published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health - Americas.

The paper, " Ethical principles of traditional Indigenous medicine to guide western psychedelic research and practice," highlights how the new Western psychedelic movement can embrace and collaborate with the Indigenous plant medicine traditions that preceded it.

"The authority of the Indigenous Peoples must be recognized and respected as equal holders of sophisticated systems of contemplative insight," said Celidwen, who previously served as a liaison of Indigenous affairs at the United Nations. "Indigenous voices bring forth actions of reverence, kindness, and compassion. So, my research is committed to the reclamation, revitalization and transmission of our Indigenous wisdoms."

A burgeoning industry

Psychedelic medicines - which are still federally criminalized in the U.S. - have been engaged as "Spirit medicines" by Indigenous communities around the world for centuries. Sacred Indigenous traditions include ceremonies that practice these medicines not only to heal people, Celidwen said, "but to heal our planet by opening the spiritual gateways to the Ancestors (past and emerging) and promote transcendence through deep connections with Nature, the Universe, and Spirit."

These medicines are not about the human mind alone, they reveal Spirit, the very animating principle of Life."

- Yuria Celidwen

Recently, in the West, these medicines have been used as therapies for depression, anxiety, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), creating a burgeoning multibillion-dollar industry. Recreational use of psychedelic plants, like psilocybe mushrooms, peyote cactus and ayahuasca, have also created a market for Western psychedelic practitioners to charge thousands of dollars for facilitation.

According to the study, there are currently an estimated 30 million people who use psychedelics in the U.S. alone. And as financial backing continues to proliferate in Western institutions for psychedelic research, which includes over 350 registered psychedelic clinical studies, Celidwen said there are serious concerns from Indigenous communities about how the research of their Spirit medicines is conducted, and how Indigenous participation will be incorporated - if at all.

How will the West transform the sacred use of psychedelics? And how can reparations be directed to Indigenous communities for the appropriation of their time-honored medicines?

Celidwen answers these questions through her research with Indigenous practitioners, activists, scholars and lawyers from around the world - all well-versed in Indigenous medicine practices. They have formulated a set of ethical guidelines concerning traditional Indigenous medicines' current use in the West.

"I see the lack of access to our own Indigenous medicine systems," said Celidwen, "which continue to be dismissed, persecuted, blatantly extracted, exploited, and capitalized upon. ... It became evident to me that it was crucial to bring together the voices of the traditions that have been mostly impacted by the appropriation of these Spirit medicines."

Centering the 'sacred act'

The group met virtually during the pandemic, and Celidwen said the panel discussed issues that have been deeply rooted in Indigenous communities. Such as the impact that cultural appropriation has had on their traditional medicines, and the lack of recognition these medicines have gotten for being sacred within Indigenous cultures.

Participants in the panel also addressed the various exclusionary policies their communities have faced in practicing their medicinal traditions, the rising carbon footprint to their Lands, and the impact Western "psychedelic tourism" has had on preventing Indigenous communities access to their own medicines.

The panel also repudiated any attempt at patenting Indigenous heritage.

Through her research, Celidwen said, it becomes apparent that Indigenous Peoples' voices and leadership are absent from Western psychedelic research and practice. When Indigenous voices have been engaged, it has been merely symbolic, not benefitting Indigenous communities.

"Even the term 'psychedelics' is a Western notion that Indigenous communities do not agree with," said Celidwen. "Western recreational use of our Spirit medicines have nothing to do with reflecting on the mind or spirit. It is not always a sacred act. The Western view says psychedelics manifest the human mind, but these medicines are not about the human mind alone, they reveal Spirit, the very animating principle of Life."

The research led to a consensus of ethical Indigenous principles that Celidwen said outline eight critical elements - "Reverence, Respect, Responsibility, Relevance, Regulation, Reparation, Restoration and Reconciliation" - for psychedelic researchers to consider in their trials and practice.

Those principles were then connected to specific problems Indigenous Peoples face because of the research and practice of psychedelics outside of Indigenous communities.

More importantly, Celidwen said, they present solutions.

And for Berkeley's Othering and Belonging Institute Director john powell, there is no better time than now for "the bridging of those solutions" to be considered.

"It is remarkable how rich Indigenous traditions have been largely ignored in the study of human flourishing, and the positive interventions that make it possible," powell said. "Dr. Celidwen's research stands out in how it centers relationality, interdependence, mutuality and the meaning inherent in all living phenomena."

From a place of 'fierce kindness'

While her own life has been marked by discrimination, exploitation, extraction and extreme forms of violence and abuse, Celidwen said those experiences also reflect the greater disparities that Indigenous Peoples experience.

"Not only do we carry historical harm," said Celidwen, "but the traumatic experiences keep being perpetuated by structures and systems of oppression and exploitation of our Lands, cultures and traditions, that end up ripping apart our hearts and tearing our bodies into pieces."

That trauma, Celidwen said, is linked to contemporary issues affecting Indigenous communities that include a lack of access to the minimum for dignified living, healthcare, education, safety and security, and housing.

According to the study, while the psychedelic industry will potentially become a multibillion-dollar trade, there has been little to no health or economic return to Indigenous communities, who make up 6% of the world population and 30% of the extremely poor.

Indigenous people also live, on average, 20 years less than their non-Indigenous counterparts.

It's about love and a fierce kindness to guide people to realize and to wake up to our daily realities."

- Yuria Celidwen

Further economic disparities that Celidwen's research points to are the fact that Western psychedelic practitioners and facilitators can earn an average of $10,500 per service event, compared to Indigenous medicine practitioners, who earn between $2 and $150 for their services.

Indigenous women in particular, she said, lack access to platforms of influence in decision-making processes. But Celidwen said she has found that participating in the transmission of traditional Indigenous knowledge has helped her to preserve her Indigenous culture.

"It's a way of reclaiming our places, and at the same time, it's about love and a fierce kindness to guide people to realize and to wake up to our daily realities," she said. "We must be open to ethical collaborations to come to solutions together, and to create bridges between us."

Nourishing collaborations

To share these Indigenous perspectives, Celidwen has held several dialogues for academics, clinicians and Indigenous peoples from various backgrounds to gather and partake in, and to understand, traditional Indigenous ceremonies.

Last fall, Celidwen brought together Indigenous medicine practitioners from Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, Colombia, and El Salvador to meet with psychedelic researchers from Western institutions that included UC Berkeley, John Hopkins University, University of Wisconsin Madison, and UCSF.

The two-day event was held at Berkeley's Faculty Club and included Indigenous ceremonies that were deeply rooted in building connections with Indigenous conceptions of "Spirit, Creator, and the Universe." Self-discovery and reflection of "our Ancestors" was also incorporated into the conference, which promoted a free flow of ideas and discussions that addressed the absence of Indigenous Peoples in the Western psychedelic movement.

Dacher Keltner, a Berkeley psychology professor, attended the conference and said Celidwen's ability to provide a nourishing, collaborative space for people from starkly different communities to have tough conversations about psychedelic research is changemaking.

"Dr. Celidwen has begun the kind of dialogues - and laid out the kind of principles - that will ensure that this new movement is not another colonialist resource extraction, but instead can move toward more reverential and mutually nourishing collaboration," said Keltner, who is also director of Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. "It is seminal and necessary."

For powell, Celidwen's mere presence on campus as an Indigenous scholar helps broaden the discourse of Berkeley's academic community. And her research, powell said, can transform culture, as evident in its integration into schools, health care settings, the judicial system, organizations and government agencies.

"Yuria's work on Indigenous traditions and what they teach us about creating a world where everyone belongs will be transformative," he said. "She has already had a significant impact on the way we think about bridging, an essential practice that helps deepen relationships across differences so we can jointly create structures that serve all of us."

Celidwen continues to bring her research to Western institutions across the country, speaking at universities and colleges about the ways Indigenous principles and values can help the greater humanity "access an ever-expansive unfolding of a path of meaning and participation rooted in honoring all life."

More recently, Celidwen spoke at the Bioneers Conference last month at Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, spreading her research and perspective of the "Ethics of Belonging of Indigenous Contemplative Traditions" with the hope, she says, that it will bridge and balance "an inequitable and separated world."

"It has become evident that when we pay attention to the world around us, all we hear is urgency. It is time for community reflection," she said. "We need to nourish a conscious social responsibility for the self, community and environment. And to be open to transcend beyond the individual and the material culture to embrace the Divine."

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Why Indigenous 'Spirit medicine' principles must be a priority in psychedelic research - Berkeley News

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Yuria Celidwen, a UC Berkeley Othering and Belonging Institute senior fellow, sheds light on how Western institutions can ethically approach the use of psychedelics.

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SSRIs are a common method of treatment among individuals who suffer with mental health conditions. While one of the most commonplace medication types used, there are many negative side effects that come along with taking SSRIs.

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What are the real risks of antidepressants? - Harvard Health

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Thanks for visiting. Don't miss your FREE gift. The Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness, is yours absolutely FREE when you sign up to receive Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Sign up to get tips for living a healthy lifestyle, with ways to fight inflammation and improve cognitive health, plus the latest advances in preventative medicine, diet and exercise, pain relief, blood pressure and cholesterol management, and more.

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Psilocybin may ‘reset’ the brain to help manage treatment-resistant depression

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How Psychedelics Interact with Your Brain

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How Psychedelics Interact with Your Brain

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Psychedelics are all about changing your thinking and mindset via a shift in perspective. There is research being done in the areas of the brain that are only affected during psychedelic use.

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Psychedelic drugs have become all the rage among scientists. But not for the reasons you might think. From early, rudimentary research of psychedelics in the 1950s and '60s to today's sophisticated technology, there is a deep interest in understanding how psychedelics affect the brain.

Scientists have been digging for meaningful answers, whether to learn the psychedelic effects on human consciousness or their potential as therapeutics. But what exactly are psychedelics?

Psychedelic drugs (also known as hallucinogens or hallucinogenic drugs) are a group of psychoactive substances that cause changes in a person's sensory perception, emotions and thoughts. They can either come in natural or synthetic forms.

People who use psilocybin experience paranoia, panic attacks, hallucinations and "spiritual experiences." Although it may seem contradictory, they also feel relaxed. For users, the latter effect is compared to low doses of marijuana.

Peyote is a cactus with mescaline as its active ingredient and a naturally occurring hallucinogen. The psychedelic effects of mescaline are compared to LSD.

DMT is a naturally occurring psychedelic found in certain trees of Central America and the Amazon. DMT is the main component of ayahuasca tea, but people can also use its synthetic form (as a white powder).

DMT users suffer from agitation, elevated heart rate and hallucinations. Also, DMT hallucinogenic "trips" lead to a person seeing distorted bodies and environments.

Additionally, there is another group of psychedelics called dissociative drugs. These substances make a person feel as if they are detached from their body or surroundings. This includes hallucinogens such as:

Phencyclidine (PCP) - formerly used as a general anesthetic.

Ketamine - a surgical anesthetic; also known as the infamous "date-rape drug."

Dextromethorphan (DXM) - used in cold medicine as a cough suppressant.

People consume these psychedelics in many forms, from pills to teas and injections, inhaling or smoking. The short-term effects on the brain, which users tend to call "trips," vary and can start as early as 15 to 20 minutes and last for about 12 hours.

For centuries, psychedelic drugs have had their place in the religious and healing ceremonies of native people in Central and South America. But a strong interest in exploring them as psychotherapeutics (psychedelic therapy) has grown in recent years.

The problem is scientists know little about how psychedelics affect the brain - or the exact neurobiological mechanisms. And whatever is known is still up for much debate among the research community.

Several studies have shown that hallucinogens make brain activity more disorderly. Research suggests that psychedelics impact brain connectivity, affect serotonin receptors, create detachment and, of course, cause hallucinations.

In this research using fMRI, participants who used psilocybin showed lower brain activity in the "default mode network" - interrelated areas of the brain allegedly in charge of consciousness or sense of self. Yet, the brain image also showed a high level of "ego-disintegration," or a "spiritual" feeling that comes from the detachment of self.

When you hear psychedelic users talk about their "trips" or mystical experiences, this is what they mean. They experience different sensations that could feel good or unpleasant ("bad trips").

Though these studies have made considerable strides, scientists still don't know how the brain processes information or communicates changes in areas of the same cognitive process , while under the effects of psychedelics.

For this reason, there is a critical need for more research.

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There has never been a better time to research hallucinogens. But what are psychedelics and what are the psychedelic effects on the brain?

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There is not just research being done for theory. The practices are being put into place and there are real success stories.

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One Man’s Psychedelic Journey to Confront His Cancer

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What’s it like to take psilocybin in a clinical trial for depression? One man shares his psychedelic experience in a trial for people with cancer-related depression.

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The obstacles to decriminalizing psychedelic drugs are political, not legal

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The treatment is successful so there is plenty of potential to make money off of it. The government also has trouble regulating the substance as the compounds are natural occuring so you can not patent it. There are also cultural barriers that prevent the government being able to interact with certain species of mushrooms.

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The obstacles to decriminalizing psychedelic drugs are political, not legal, say experts - Harvard Law School

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The new Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at Harvard Law School recently convened a conference on the future of psychedelics law and regulation.

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Aside from the llong and short term side effects, SSRIs do have the potential to be helpful in treating existing conditions. For some this will be the only needed treatment with no need to incrrease to psychedelic treatment options.

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The most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant

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These antidepressants can ease depression symptoms. They typically cause fewer side effects than other antidepressants do. SSRIs are also used for anxiety.

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If overused and abused psychedelics can be extremely harmful. They can worsen existing conditions or create new ones. This can all be avoided with safe and regulated practices along with therapy.

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The Long-Term Effects of Hallucinogens & Psychedelics

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The long-term effects of hallucinogens include many unpleasant problems, such as persistent psychosis, mood swings, and hallucinations.

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Psychedelics: effects on the human brain and physiology | Simeon Keremedchiev | TEDxVarna