Mental health issues are more and more common these days, especially in the age of COVID-19.
Even before the pandemic, researchers and psychotherapists have long studied how alternative psychedelic drugs can potentially help with things like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction.
Psychedelics are classified as hallucinogens, and, therefore, are a subject of legal disputes that are preventing future studies.
Since the greatest problem is not knowing for sure how they’ll affect someone who’s dealing with serious mental health conditions, it’s hard to make a case for testing it on human subjects.
Existing studies mostly target depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction, and have shown promising results in all areas.
Psychedelics and Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is, as we know, an incredibly serious mental health condition.
The current mental health space needs more research to prove that treating depression and anxiety is a responsive strategy when managing symptoms of schizophrenia.
Psychedelics and Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is another one of the more serious mental issues. By definition, it involves extreme shifts in mood, energy, activity levels and behavior.
The biggest problem of psychedelics for bipolar disorder is the concern of “high” energy activity. This occurs when hallucinogens in the system, potentially, trigger mania or mood episodes.
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