"Diário de Notícias": Psychedelic drug is a resource for mental health

Author: Caroline Ribeiro
Diário de Notícias, November 6, 2024

British researcher Celia Morgan is in Lisbon for the 2nd Scientific Conference on Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy. She talks to DN about advances in the use of the substance. "It's encouraging to be able to offer something new."

Can a psychedelic experience help a drug addict in their addiction treatment? In the case of alcoholism, current scientific studies say yes. The substance in this case is ketamine [or ketamine], a drug used as a hospital anesthetic, but which has conquered the streets worldwide for its "hallucinogenic" potential.

In Lisbon, a conference on the subject will be held this Wednesday (6) in the auditorium of PLMJ Advogados and will be broadcast live on the YouTube channel of The Clinic of Change, the promoter of this event, which features Celia Morgan, from the University of Exeter, in the United Kingdom, as one of the featured speakers.

When we talk about ketamine, we think of the drug in terms of addiction, not treatment. What is already known about its use in mental disorders?

Ketamine is a recreational drug and there are people who develop problems with it, but we use it in a completely different way, as a treatment for mental problems and drug addiction. Our study treats people who abuse alcohol. They receive three doses as part of a therapy designed to combat addiction. We believe that the drug acts as a catalyst for the effects of the therapy.

In Portugal, ketamine is already used to treat persistent depression. What's the difference?

Ketamine is a molecule with two mirror images. The pharmaceutical company has put one of them, ketamine, into a formula for intranasal application. People who have failed other treatments for depression, who are severely ill, can receive the dose, they are intranasal jets. There's no psychotherapy involved, it's just the drug. I've been involved in some research, but all the studies show that when we administer ketamine or ketamine with an associated therapy, the positive effects are prolonged. This has been shown in people with depression, anxiety and substance abuse problems, which is what I investigate. Especially in drug addiction, the drug is a catalyst for therapy. The drug alone relieves symptoms, but the effects wear off in about seven days. When combined with psychotherapy, we've seen effects in our study that last up to six months after just three doses. Not combining the two, I think, is a missed opportunity.

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