Psychedelic drug treatments : assisting the therapeutic process / Ben Sessa, Eileen Worthley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sessa, Ben, author.

Worthley, Eileen, author.

Series:

MyModernHealth FAQs.

MyModernHealth FAQs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hallucinogenic drugs--Therapeutic use.

Hallucinogenic drugs.

Hallucinogenic drugs--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (154 pages) : color illustrations, photographs.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Dulles, Virginia ; Boston, Massachusetts ; New Delhi, [India] : Mercury Learning & Information, 2016.

Summary:

Psychedelic Drug Treatments: Assisting the Therapeutic Process provides information about current and quite viable investigation into reviving and progressing with neurological research that began in the middle of the 20th century and was brought to a halt when certain drugs were banned in the 1970s. Using a question/answer format, the book will introduce you to the way in which the chemical compounds known as psychedelics affect the brain, provide you with the definitions of key terms particular to the neurological and psychological vocabulary, describe the specific disorders that can realistically be helped or relieved through treatment with psychedelics, and offer information with regard to current research being conducted in the field. This text will discuss the history of the earlier research efforts and will examine the likelihood of a resurgence of interest in the successful development of methods and practices of clinical therapy assisted by psychedelic drugs. The purpose of this volume is to promote an understanding of the use of psychedelics as tools to assist therapy and to challenge the 40-year-old prejudices against research into the possible benefits of these drugs. Features: •Questions and answers about the history, research, and treatments related to psychedelic drugs •Makes a case for the re-evaluation of psychedelics - LSD, MDMA ('ecstasy'), DMT, psilocybin, ayahuasca, peyote, ibogaine, and more - and their clinical potential for treating a range of conditions from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression to autism and cluster headaches. •Includes numerous in-text resources such as links to Web sites, videos, articles, blogs, etc. from NIH, FDA, YouTube, and university/clinical studies

Contents:

Intro

Half Title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

PART ONE An Introduction to Psychotropic and Psychedelic Drugs

CHAPTER 1 Psychoactive Compounds

1. What are psychoactive drugs?

2. How are psychotropic drugs different from psychoactive drugs?

3. What are psychotherapeutic drugs?

4. How are psychopharmaceuticals distinguished from the other "psychos"?

5. What are some psychotherapeutic medications and what disorders do they treat?

6. How long have these medicines been used therapeutically?

7. What are designer drugs?

CHAPTER 2 Psychedelic Compounds

8. What are psychedelic drugs?

9. How are psychedelics different from other hallucinogens?

10. What does "psychedelic" mean?

11. What do these alternative terms mean?

12. What are the various psychedelic compounds?

13. What are the effects of the tryptamine-based psychedelics?

14. What are the tryptamine psychedelics?

15. What are the effects of the phenethylamine-based psychedelics?

16. What are the phenethylamine psychedelics?

CHAPTER 3 A Bit About the Brain

17. How does the brain work?

18. How do the neurons connect to each other?

19. What are neurotransmitters?

20. What are agonists and antagonists?

21. What are endogenous and exogenous substances?

22. What is the importance of serotonin?

23. What is an entheogen?

24. Are all psychedelic drugs entheogens?

25. What are entactogens or empathogens?

CHAPTER 4 How Do Psychoactive Medications Work in the Brain?

26. How important are the neurotransmitters?

27. How do psychoactive chemicals interact with the neurotransmitters?

28. How do psychedelics work in the brain?

29. Why are psychedelics not being used as medicines?

PART TWO A Brief History of Research Efforts.

CHAPTER 5 A Brief History: From Ages Past to Research in the Early 20th Century

30. When were psychedelics first discovered?

31. Were these plants and fungi used only in ceremonies?

32. When did psychedelics first come to the attention of the scientific community?

33. Who performed some of this earliest research and what did it entail?

34. When was LSD discovered?

35. Is it true that Hofmann's discovery of LSD was accidental?

36. When did LSD become available for use in psychotherapy?

CHAPTER 6 Psychedelic Research and Pioneers in the mid-1900s

37. Were psychedelics being used to treat mental illnesses at this time?

38. What was the MK-Ultra program?

39. Who were some of the notable clinicians and researchers in the early part of this era?

40. What was Dr. Humphry Osmond's major contribution to the field?

41. Why was Aldous Huxley's involvement with psychedelics significant?

42. When did Huxley first try LSD?

43. Why was Alfred Hubbard called "Captain Trips"?

44. What research efforts were going on in the UK?

45. Were psychedelics being used in Europe?

46. Did Timothy Leary make any valid contribution in terms of research?

47. How did Leary become involved with psychedelics?

48. What was the Concord Prison study?

49. Why is the Marsh Chapel experiment "famous"?

50. Was the Marsh Chapel experiment successful?

51. When did Timothy Leary first experiment with LSD?

52. Why did Leary leave Harvard?

CHAPTER 7 Promising Research Grinds to a Halt

53. Why did promising research stop?

54. What was it about the times that contributed to the ban on these drugs?

55. What was the US government's role?

56. What did proponents of the psychedelic movement do to interfere with research?

57. What was the problem with the psychedelics being used recreationally?.

58. What exactly are controlled substances?

59. How do psychedelics compare with other controlled substances?

60. How does a drug become approved and legal?

PART THREE Current Research

CHAPTER 8 Making Pharmaceuticals Legally Available

61. How does a drug become an FDA-approved, legal medicine?

62. What is involved in a clinical study?

63. What are the four phases?

64. What is the double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study?

65. What is meant by "set and setting," and why are they important?

66. Do psychedelics go through the same clinical-trial process that other pharmaceuticals go through?

67. Are any psychedelics currently undergoing clinical studies?

68. Is the MAPS organization just a group of former "hippies"?

69. Is all current research supported by MAPS?

70. What are some other organizations that are studying psychedelics?

71. Are pharmaceutical companies researching psychedelics or sponsoring such research?

72. What is the protocol for administering psychedelics to assist therapy?

73. Is the experience like tripping?

CHAPTER 9 Current Research

74. What illnesses and disorders do researchers hope to benefit from use of psychedelic-assisted therapy?

75. What are the anxiety disorders that are being experimentally treated with psychedelics?

76. Why are studies of PTSD so important?

77. How do the psychedelics compare with psychotherapeutic medicines that are currently being prescribed for PTSD?

78. How does MDMA help treat posttraumatic stress disorder?

79. What are end-of-life anxiety disorder and anxiety from life-threatening illness?

80. How can psychedelics assist with end-of-life anxiety and life-threatening illnesses such as end-stage cancer?

81. What is social anxiety disorder?

82. How are SAD and autism linked for research with psychedelics?.

83. What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

84. What is it about obsessions that makes them part of a disorder?

85. What are compulsions?

86. Are psychedelics being researched to assist in the treatment of OCD?

87. Can psychedelics be used to treat depression?

88. What are cluster headaches?

89. Which psychedelic compounds are being researched to treat cluster headaches?

90. How can psychedelics be helpful in the treatment of addictions?

CHAPTER 10 Cannabis

91. What about medical marijuana?

92. What is "Uncle Sam's Pot Farm"?

93. What is NIDA's role in the research on marijuana?

94. Is NIDA-sponsored research the only research being conducted?

95. What are some medical conditions that cannabis could benefit?

96. Can cannabis be used as a tool to assist psychotherapy?

PART FOUR The Future of Psychedelics

CHAPTER 11 The Future for Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

97. Do psychedelics really have a future in modern psychotherapeutic medicine?

98. Which of the psychedelic compounds seem to have the best potential for continued research?

99. Which seem closest to achieving legal status?

100. Is it possible that psychedelics can not only treat, but possibly cure?

CHAPTER 12 Safety Issues, Side Effects, and Ethics

101. Is there a downside to psychedelic-assisted therapy?

102. Are there ethical considerations with regard to psychedelic-assisted therapy?

CHAPTER 13 Opening the Door to a Better Understanding

103. How do enlightened consciousness and spirituality play a part in psychotherapy?

104. How can this research achieve greater acceptance?

Summary

Appendix

Index.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781937585594

193758559X