SICAD publishes a dossier on the use of psychedelics in mental health treatment.
Público, December 13, 2023
Author: Amílcar Correia
Ketamine [or ketamine], MDMA, psilocybin or cannabis have in common that they are illicit drugs and have therapeutic properties.
As the potential of these substances is the subject of various experiments, the results of which have been promising, the Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies Intervention Service (SICAD) has organized a thematic dossier that addresses the scientific evidence, the risks associated with their use and the current state of knowledge on their clinical administration.
João Goulão, director-general of SICAD, explains that the publication Drugs: Therapeutic Uses is due to the topicality of the subject, which brings together the opinions of various specialists and is aimed at professionals and the general public. "It's important that these experiences are framed," he observes, "and that they produce scientific knowledge that confirms or not the goodness of these substances." We're talking about some substances that are used recreationally, but which, when used in a clinical context, can have another purpose and result.
Among the substances with psychedelic effects, ketamine is one that has been studied the most in Portugal.
Its antidepressant properties, when combined with psychological support or integrated into psychotherapy, are being tested on patients with treatment-resistant depression at the Beatriz Ângelo Hospital, since 2021, and at the Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, since 2022. The same is expected to happen soon at the Magalhães Lemos Hospital and the São João Hospital and University Center in Porto.
What the studies have suggested so far is that these psychedelics indicate some efficacy in more serious psychiatric conditions, in which conventional therapies (pharmacological or psychotherapeutic) have not achieved the same results.
