Ketamine is emerging as a breakthrough treatment for mental health disorders, even ones that did not respond to other forms of treatment. However, many are still hesitant to try ketamine-assisted therapy options. One of the reasons for that is the fear of the unknown–no one knows what it is like to undergo a ketamine treatment until they’ve experienced it. Many describe ketamine experiences as “an intense, dream-like state” that allows patients to process complex emotions, resolve past trauma, and work towards inner healing. But just like with normal dreams during sleep, memories from ketamine ..read more

DecrimPovertyDC, a coalition of progressive activist groups, has sparked nationwide attention with its ambitious effort to push for drug policy reform in the nation’s capital. The coalition has brought together a range of organizations that all share a common goal- to see an end to the mass incarceration of people caught up in the “War on Drugs.” When it comes to drug policies, the United States is woefully behind the times. While other countries have been moving towards a more public health-centered approach, the United States continues to invest billions of dollars in a failed “war” that has ..read more

“Magic mushrooms” have been used for centuries for healing, religious, and spiritual purposes. But after being “unfairly” stigmatized in the US during the 1960s counterculture politics and later outlawed, magic mushrooms seem to be making a comeback. There is growing evidence that “magic mushrooms” could be instrumental in treating mental and behavioral health issues. Recent studies show that psilocybin, the psychedelic substance found in the so-called magic mushrooms, could revolutionize the world of mental health treatments. Apparently, classic psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD can help ..read more

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, a major player in the soap industry, has recently announced that they will be providing free ketamine-assisted therapy to their employees as part of their healthcare benefits. Ketamine-assisted therapy is a relatively new development in the field of mental health treatment. It has proven to be highly effective in managing a wide range of hard-to-treat mental illnesses, including severe depression, end-of-life anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The treatment involves using controlled ketamine infusions in a medical setting in combination with traditional cou ..read more

Recent studies conducted by UC San Francisco and Imperial College London show that psilocybin causes increased brain connectivity and repair in the mind of depressed patients. The studies show that this repair of brain areas damaged by depression helps patients break free of symptoms associated with depression. Researchers examined the fMRI scan of 60 patients who participated in two separate psilocybin trials. All participants were diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in the first trial. Researchers informed all patients that they would receive psilocybin. The second trial was ..read more

Just months after Governor Daniel McKee of Rhode Island signed into law a bill proposing the establishment of what will be the country’s first overdose prevention sites, lawmakers in the Ocean State have launched two drug decriminalization bills in what may be seen as an accelerated effort to adopt more progressive drug policies. This comes at a time when the “War on Drugs” has failed terribly, for a large part, and more and more states are leaning towards drug decriminalization and public health-centered interventions as a way to address problems associated with drug use and addiction. One of ..read more

We all vent from time to time. We get stressed out, feel anxious, or maybe succumb to a hint of depression in our daily lives, and the influx of emotion becomes a whirling dervish of pain. To relieve that pain – and perhaps anger or frustration – we often turn to that time-honored practice of venting. Why Do We Vent? On the surface, venting – expressing pent-up emotions to someone else – should be a positive experience. The simple act of having an attentive or sympathetic ear by your side should be a kind of relief, empowering and satisfying. What’s venting? You probably think you know the ans ..read more

Research conducted by Andrew Adamatzky and published by The Royal Society Publishing indicates that fungi may have hidden languages. According to Adamatzky’s report, mycelial networks, the roots of fungal colonies, create and transport spikes of electrochemical signals similar to those created in the human nervous system during speech. Adamatzky and his team were able to group the electrical spikes into trains (words), providing them with a basis to build a linguistic model for the fungi. In other words, certain species of fungus are talking to each other. The team then constructed an algorith ..read more

3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as “molly,” has been found to be highly effective for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when used with conventional therapy and psychotherapy methods. The phase 3 clinical trial results were presented Tuesday at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Diego, California. A review of data from the phase 3 results showed that MDMA was highly effective at treating PTSD when combined with psychotherapy. This efficacy carried over to participants who had the much more severe treatment-resistant form of PTSD (TR-PTSD) and ..read more