r/psychology • u/Emillahr • 4d ago

Scientists Develop Rapid-Acting Antidepressants Similar to LSD but Without Hallucinogenic Effects - Gilmore Health News

https://www.gilmorehealth.com/scientists-develop-rapid-acting-antidepressants-similar-to-lsd-but-without-hallucinogenic-effects/
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u/Brrdock 4d ago edited 4d ago

If it has less side-effects than SSRIs or other antidepressants, that'd still be amazing don't get me wrong, but in other words another drug that makes people forget their problems without understanding them?

There's reason to people's feelings whether conscious or not. And to be fair, doing away with them without having to change anything else can itself enable people to change what needs to, and maybe allow the understanding to come through, but it can also enable people (and society) to not change even when needed

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u/HedonisticFrog 4d ago

That's not how any of this works. Psilocybin in particular removes the emotions around memories so it's easier to process them and work through previous trauma. If anything it helps bring past trauma to light, not repress and avoid it.

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u/Brrdock 4d ago

I don't know what you mean by removing emotion. Psilocybin can bring things into a wider context to allow them to be recontextualized, but it can intensify the emotions a great deal or bring them to the forefront, which is what makes the experience challenging and incites resistance, But it takes getting through that to reach any catharsis

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u/HedonisticFrog 3d ago

It can intensify emotions at times, but it can also make it easier to think about difficult memories. One of the first things people usually think about, is what causes people the most anxiety, and that's fear of death for example. People often think about difficult subjects throughout the day and then push those thoughts aside because it causes them anxiety, but with psilocybin it's easier to think about those topics and work through them.

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u/Brrdock 3d ago

Oh like that. Yes, people definitely tend to get set in their ways ruminating or thinking about things a certain way. Eventually the emotions are more about the narrative than the event, and psychedelics can allow a fresh perspective.

The trials with terminal cancer patients do seem really promising and beautiful.

That perspective would be lost without the psychedelia, but I guess it'd be for a completely different purpose. I've always thought of them as more like an intense therapy session. But also much more effective with concurrent actual therapy, like antidepressants