Reference centers in hospitals around the world are looking to psychedelics such as ketamine as an effective way of treating various psychiatric illnesses such as depression. Are these substances the future of medicine for mental illness? "They are already the present and are making their way," admits clinical psychologist Carla Mariz, speaking to SAPO Lifestyle on the day she opens the first private clinic in Portugal in the field of psychotherapy using these drugs.
When the Beatles released "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" at the end of the 1960s, at a time when the hippie revolution was underway, the song was quickly read as an ode to LSD. And although John Lennon vehemently denied to Rolling Stone, years later, that the title concealed a less than pristine abbreviation, the association was made.
The accidental development of lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, in the 1940s fascinated the scientific community because of its therapeutic potential. But with the entry of this substance into the recreational circuit in the 1960s and 1970s, it quickly became a target for health authorities due to the dangers associated with its unsupervised consumption.
More than half a century later, the power of psychedelics is now being reborn in science centers that are fighting for alternative treatments for depression, a disease that in a small - but significant - number of people has no effective treatment in its conventional form. In this field, drugs such as ketamine are receiving special attention.
"Recent studies suggest that ketamine, in addition to boosting neuroplasticity, can reverse the damage caused by chronic stress, such as burnout, and depression, and open a window during its period of action, through which, with psychotherapy, new brain connections can be created," explains Carla Mariz, a clinical psychologist specializing in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy.
"These substances, namely ketamine, MDMA or psilocybin, have in common the fact that they induce states of heightened awareness, allowing the mind to be revealed. These molecularly disparate compounds are in fact united by their unique effects on consciousness, perception, identity and the creation of meaning, i.e. how we understand and signify our lives," he adds.
One of the difficulties for patients with chronic mental illnesses, such as long-term depression, is accessing the causes of the condition, which is often associated with rigid mental functioning. This is where psychedelics can play a key role.
"These three substances act on the brain in very different ways, but in which the person can see themselves dealing with their own problems, gaining perspective on themselves and their surroundings," says Carla Mariz, who has been practicing at the Júlio de Matos Hospital since 2005, where she worked with ketamine in the Resistant Depression Unit. [...]
In addition to treating depression, in which studies speak of efficacy rates of up to 75%, there is published literature on the power of ketamine in dealing with anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol dependence and eating disorders. It is in this sense that the drug is now also administered off-label, i.e. the use of a medicine for a particular indication that has not been validated by the regulator.
In a recent scientific study of patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 67% of those treated with ketamine significantly reduced their symptoms in just two weeks. In the case of clinical studies on alcoholics, for example, abstinence rates of 86% were achieved within six months of treatment, with no adverse effects, in contrast to rates of less than 25% when compared to conventional methods.
"Ketamine is the only substance that can be used legally. The first randomized study proving its powerful antidepressant effect was carried out in 2000, and since then there have been numerous studies demonstrating its benefits for mental health. Other studies are being carried out with other psychedelics, such as MDMA and psilocybin. The results are extraordinary and important for its possible future legalization," admits the specialist.
But the social alarm associated with the consumption of psychedelics that was generated in the second half of the last century remains. "It's been going on for decades and seems to put prejudice above scientific data, which should be looked at more impartially. What we're talking about is a paradigm shift in the treatment of diseases in which nothing else has worked," he says.
