Psychedelic Drugs Show Promise as Antidepressants. In the preface, Waldman tells readers that she was diagnosed years ago with a variant of bipolar disorder. Ketamine doesnât influence serotonin as much as other entheogens do. Over 30 million people currently living in the US have used LSD, psilocybin, or … As in, if they were on the manic end of the spectrum [which three were], it would bring them back to the center. Part of his research is interviewing others and collecting qualitative data of folks with bipolar disorder who use ayahuasca and DMT to try and determine what’s happening. Some doctors, like a psychiatrist Mudge, knows of in New York and those I interviewed for my book on mushrooms, seem to think lamotrigine doesn’t pose a huge risk when mixing with psilocybin or ayahuasca, however, lithium seems to be in a class of its own. For instance, while the ayahuasca tradition is to partake in multiple ceremonies over a week or two, Mudge says that puts the bipolar brain at a much higher risk for mania. Ask our Editor, PsychedelicNewsWire (PNW) And if they were depressed, it would bring them slightly up, but it wouldn’t keep pushing them and escalating into mania.”. Could they all have a place with specific safety guidelines? But for folks with bipolar disorder, the serotonergic activity may be what poses the problem – that increased activity could potentially trigger mania, or at least “increase the likelihood for mood episodes,” as Barone puts it. Mudge himself is bipolar, and at 48 has been through the wringer in attempts to treat his condition. I am also able to recognize them faster after they happen. Some scientists are beginning to think otherwise. In a nutshell, she discovered that instead of the bipolar mind being “too high” or “too low” (aka manic or depressive), that in reality, it was functioning at speeds that were too fast or too slow because of its missing regulating mechanism, thus explaining how medication like Lithium comes in to help regulate that speed (see image 2). “That’ll help you in the next year or two in a massive way,” says Mudge, “and then you’ll be ready to drink safely.”, But the weight of the bipolar community’s desire to heal shouldn’t be all up to one man. According to the World Health Organization, over 264 million people are struggling with depression. Not only can mania be dangerous but the depression is also life-threatening; folks with manic depression are much more likely to attempt and commit suicide than the general population. Also, neither should be used for schizophrenia in which case a worsening psychosis can be the result. San Francisco, California PsychedelicNewsWire is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork. There are studies on lysergic acid (LSD) for major depression but they are still in the academic centers and from what I have reviewed will not be used for depression. In fact, researchers say that the available literature indicates that many people only get a definitive diagnosis for bipolar disorder after clinicians notice that those individuals feel worse (or get manic and in some extreme cases they exhibit symptoms of psychosis) when they take a prescription of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) for depression. Admittedly, the responses to the survey I created have a bias because most folks found the Google Form through my social media where I’m very pro-psychedelic (especially psilocybin mushrooms) and so my followers are more likely to report positive experiences than negative ones. But what about other psychedelic substances? But Mudge theorizes the binding time also matters when determining the mania risk for the bipolar brain, that the short binding time of DMT poses less of a risk of pushing bipolar people into mania, while substances that bind for longer, like LSD, present a higher risk. Mudge also insists that bipolar folks wait for him to accomplish this goal before they start drinking ayahuasca or taking other kinds of psychedelics. She essentially had to relearn how to feel and it was overwhelming at first. I had a chance to do holotropic breathwork and I was like, I don’t want to rock the boat.” But she did learn and developed other spiritual practices, like yoga, which helped her understand how to regulate her own energy. Study of Microdosing Psychedelics Finds Mixed Bag of Effects. Dax Oliver, MA Research - January 15, 2021. Now, 15 years later, Mudge drinks ayahuasca every couple of months to manage his condition (in addition to being careful with nutrition and avoiding other psychoactive substances) – and has never felt better. “When I am starting towards a manic episode, psychedelics kind of smack me back down to earth and help me remember that I don’t have all my shit figured out. While it’s pretty common knowledge that SSRI’s shouldn’t be combined with psychedelics for several reasons, including the potential risk of Serotonin Syndrome, there’s less info out there about common bipolar medications … PsychedelicNewsWire / 1728 Ocean Ave, Suite PNW-276, San Francisco, CA 94112 (415) 949-5050 / Disclaimers, News and publishing service for psychedelic related companies, A Look at the Potential of Psychedelics in Treating Bipolar Disorder, Support for Legalizing Psychedelics is on Same Trajectory Marijuana Took, Mental Health Startup Aims to Help Patients Access Psychedelic Treatment, Vermont Legislators Draft Drug, Psychedelic Decriminalization Bills for 2021 Session, Missouri Introduces Legislation to Add Psychedelics to âRight to Tryâ Statute, Why Companies Should Manufacture Psychedelic Pharmaceuticals on Large Scale, NYU Langone Health Sets Up Research Center for Psychedelic Medicine, First Ever Psychedelic Therapy Clinic Launched in Calgary. Is there more to this issue than the community would make us think? It’s for this reason that those with a personal history or a strong family history of Bipolar 1 or psychosis (like schizophrenia) are advised to avoid using psychedelics altogether or, at least from a harm reduction standpoint, to use very high levels of caution when taking substances like LSD, psilocybin, and ayahuasca. And what would those guidelines look like for a person diagnosed with manic depression? . Two other bipolar diagnosed people I spoke to pointed to mania being very much like a entheogenic journey. It’s on a case by case basis, but essentially ketamine can be offered at different doses in conjunction with talk therapy, which can “use that psychedelic or altered experience to better understand your situation,” says Barone, “to have better awareness of your ego functioning and how to manage mood, in addition to the mood-stabilizing properties of ketamine.” Then, clinicians often increase the amount of follow-up sessions for bipolar clients to continue to monitor changes to mood or cognition, Barone tells me. But what if it’s not as open and shut as the community would make us think? Eventually fed up, Mudge stopped taking pharmaceuticals cold-turkey (a practice he does not recommend to others) in search of a more natural remedy. I was diagnosed as bipolar soon after…psychedelics can bring on, sometimes extended, bouts of mania and hypomania. In a survey I conducted of bipolar diagnosed people who have tried psychedelics, I came to a similar finding. “One of the most fundamentally valuable things about ayahuasca for bipolar people is that it’s helped me understand how the manic episode is damaging people around me and damaging myself,” Mudge explains. “Ketamine is the primary substance I would feel comfortable working with for a bipolar client,” says Barone. I think there’s both, or it’s almost like two different languages used to describe a similar thing. It also means getting enough sleep and stopping other recreational or self-medicating drug use like alcohol, cannabis, or whatever else. “They need the psychedelic experience to be chemically tailored to their brains’ needs.”. Psychedelics as Therapeutics. Michelle Janikian is a journalist focused on drug policy, trends, and education. To receive instant SMS alerts, text âGroovyâ to 21000 (U.S. Which brings us back to Mudge’s theories, that the bipolar brain is more sensitive and can’t handle certain substances or situations, like frequent psychedelic use or poly-drug mixes, without possibly heading into mania. The psychedelic science community should also step up and start investigating the potential benefits and harms for this large and desperate population. It humbles me and relieves the burning anger and irritation with compassion and connection to the ‘other’,” explained Sarah*, a 37-year-old with Bipolar 2 who is now off pharmaceuticals and instead uses psilocybin truffles about once a month in different doses, which are legal in the Netherlands where she lives. And traditional pharmaceutical medication often suppresses empathy, creativity, spirituality, and concentration, among a host of other natural processes. So for example, (see image 1) LSD stays plugged in for the longest, which explains why it’s such a longer-lasting trip than psilocybin or simply smoking pure DMT. But, is this an open and shut case? Mudge also suffers from bipolar disorder, and his quest for a different treatment modality stemmed from his frustration at being ânumb to the worldâ due to the effects of the prescription meds he had been taking for more than a decade. Brad Burge of MAPS speaks with Vice about the evolving public perception surrounding psychedelic research, highlighting the growing body of scientific publications about the benefits of Schedule I substances. www.PsychedelicNewsWire.com PNW is committed to delivering improved visibility and brand recognition to companies operating in the emerging markets of psychedelics. Psychedelics have been used in the Americas for thousands of years. It’s not physically dangerous unless mixing different substances or taking super-high doses. functioning bipolar disorder at the age of 29. However, considering the lack of options beyond lifelong medication for the bipolar population, it’s an interesting finding in need of more investigation beyond anecdotal reports. He explains there is a trick to getting rid of the alcohol in aged ayahuasca, basically cooking the brew on a very low heat for 10 to 20 minutes so that it steams the alcohol off but never starts to boil or even simmer. Benjamin Mudge, a doctoral student at Flinders University, is actually basing on this situation (treating bipolar disorder using ketamine-assisted therapy) to write his PhD thesis. While most psychedelics have a single type of molecule causing the experience, there are at least four psychoactive ingredients in ayahuasca: harmine, harmaline, tetrahydroharmine, and DMT. What about mushrooms, LSD, or MDMA? I'm planning to have a friend with bipolar II microdose to see what effect it has on his depression side of bipolar II, so the risks should be minimal, but I don't want to rush in haphazardly like I did with myself. These ... example, bipolar disorder 34 and addic-tion35. People with co-occurring substance use and bipolar disorder may see fewer benefits from their mood disorder treatment, recover slower and be more prone to suicide. And as a result of that, I then feel a sense of frustration and alienation from other people, and a sense of pointlessness.”. “It should start to smell like a vegetable soup when it’s ready,” Mudge says. Now when we add serotonergic psychedelics or SSRI medication on top of a “dysregulated” brain, there’s a chance it could overextend itself and go too fast for too long, which could look like mania. But it was also calming and grounding. Scientists suggest that some psychedelics are remarkably good at treating disorders like … Instead, she spent that time integrating her spiritual emergence/manic episode, learning how to recognize the “edges” of hypomania and ground herself naturally. For example, he tells me of a bipolar man who was microdosing psilocybin every day to manage his mood and had the worst manic episode of his life – at 40. “It doesn’t seem to have the same risk for inducing a mood episode as MDMA or psilocybin.” He explains that ketamine doesn’t work nearly as much on serotonin as other entheogens, that instead, its primary action is on the glutamate and NMDA receptors, which has made many researchers theorize how ketamine produces its rapid antidepressant effects. The other is an SSRI which will stop psychedelics even more. I’ve personally heard of two instances where lithium mixed with LSD caused such negative reactions (including a seizure) that both people were sent to the emergency room to the despair of their tripping friends. I express bipolar symptoms tending towards the manic side and in my observation/opinion this can be modelled as a long-duration standing wave in the brain that cycles between two poles (perhaps four!). And it’s beginning to prove his theories. I am not sure of those medications, lemme have a little research (I am not bipolar, so I don't know much about the interactions here). When researchers looked at images of brains on psychedelics, they discovered that the DMN shuts down almost entirely. It’s super controversial, especially considering unmedicated bipolar folks are at a much higher risk for suicide. Plus, Barone says that for some people, “It may be the intensity of the experience or having insufficient support during and after a trip that shifts mood or cognitive process beyond the effects of the substance.”. Also, in research on psychedelic therapy, patients with bipolar disorder or psychotic symptoms are excluded, as psychedelics can worsen these conditions. Maybe I can’t change what I did in those moments, [but] I am able to hold compassion for myself and understand that I am still learning and growing because for so many years I just numbed myself with Pharma and alcohol,” described Mary* a 31-year-old with Bipolar I who no longer takes pharmaceutical medication but has been using psilocybin in varying doses since January 2019. Once Mudge figures out the ideal recipe for brewing ayahuasca “in a balanced way” that is medicinal but “not dangerous in terms of triggering mania,” his mission is to create the “Manic Depressive Community Church”. Clinical studies do not suggest that psychedelics cause long-term mental health problems. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, various studies suggested that psychedelics could play a role in treating depression. Psychedelics in the right dose and a prepared set and setting are known to give people a new perspective on their lives and behaviors, so why couldn’t they help folks increase their self-awareness around their mood? He says after an ayahuasca ceremony he feels a “humble happiness” rather than a speedy or bordering on manic one. Psychedelics for Depression. I have been prescribed more than 20 different medications over the years with maybe 3 or 4 that didn't make me extremely ill or simply did not work. Sorry bipolar diagnosed people but you are excluded from the incredible and mystical insight, perspective shift and depression relief that psychedelics can grant others. Psychedelics tend to impact the serotonin system within the brain, and for people with bipolar, this could trigger mania or “mood … LSD Abuse and Bipolar Disorder Treatment. Plus, going off psychiatric medication quickly without a doctor’s supervision is also dangerous, especially when combined with psychedelics. The reasoning behind this recommendation has always been that psychedelics can trigger manic episodes in people with bipolar disorder, and that was too huge a risk to take. For a while, researchers have believed these fears to be overblown. “I am aware of my manic episodes when they are taking place. Cynthia*, a clinical therapist specializing in spiritual emergence and psychedelic integration who was trained in the transpersonal paradigm at the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS), thinks bipolar clients not only need a lot of preparation and integration support for a psychedelic experience, like with a professional therapist or spiritual guide, but they need to be able to sustain their stability without medication first, which she realizes just isn’t possible for everyone. Although, these situations only further prove the need for his research and more like it. “We’re still figuring out a lot about how ketamine works,” Barone explains, but the risk of inducing a manic episode from clinical ketamine treatment seems to be very low. Psychedelics promote neuronal plasticity which is far more than can be said for Big Pharma substances. His vision is that this church would be a non-profit organization that’s local to people so they wouldn’t have to travel to the Amazon to take this medicine. Champignon Brands Inc. (CSE: SHRM) (OTCQB: SHRMF) (FWB: 496), https://www.PsychedelicNewsWire.com/Disclaimer, USF, Partners Obtain DEA Authorization to Study Psychedelics for CNS Disorders, Pure Extracts Technologies Corp. (CSE: PULL) (OTC: PRXTF) (XFRA: A2QJAJ) and Canada House Wellness Group (CSE: CHV) Partner, Bringing New Cannabis 2.0 to More Canadians, Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (OTC: CLXPF) Newly Acquired Subsidiary Achieves Earn-Out Milestone âSuccessful Synthesis of Multiple Tryptamine Derivatives, California State Senator Introduces Bill to Decriminalize Psychedelics, Massachusetts Legislators Introduce Bills to Study Psychedelics, Remove Criminal Penalties. But living with bipolar can be hard. I ask if there should be a specific bipolar “dieta” (a concept in the ayahuasca tradition where you adhere to a special diet in preparation for your ceremony) and he says absolutely.