Not a few baby boomers are probably scratching their heads over the current “psychedelic renaissance,” wondering how and when those dangerous drugs that can fry your brain sunny side up suddenly became a promising new “miracle cure” for depression and PTSD.
As a journalist of a certain age, I have been watching, fascinated, as psychedelic drugs shed their war-on-drugs stigma and inch towards legalization, medicalization and FDA approval. And I’m asking myself, whether conscious-expanding drugs, which were so much a part of my generation’s youthful experience, will also have a role to play in how we grow old and transition.
I recently explored this topic in two articles for NextAvenue, a PBS-affiliated site for adults 50 and over. The first, “It May be Time to Change Your Mind About Psychedelics,” describes the legal and therapeutic landscape for three drugs: psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine. The second, “How Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Can Ease End-of-Life Anxiety” brings in the expert voice of Dr. Anthony Bossis of NYU, who has led landmark clinical trials using this therapy with patients struggling with depression over terminal illness.
With so many touching stories from people whose lives have been profoundly and positively transformed by these drugs, it’s easy to view them as a miracle cure. But in the real world, no drug or therapy works for everyone 100% of the time, and the nascent psychedelic field still has many challenges to overcome before it enters the mainstream.
I will be writing about these challenges, among other perspective, in the coming months, and will look forward to sharing each publication!
