From Wisdom 2.0 2019 in San Francisco.
16:35 min
CLEAR ALL
An experimental treatment seems poised to address a dire mental health crisis.
War and PTSD are on the public’s mind as news stories regularly describe insurgency attacks in Iraq and paint grim portraits of the lives of returning soldiers afflicted with PTSD.
PTSD is an extremely debilitating condition that can occur after exposure to a terrifying event.
In the last two decades, researchers have started to reexamine psychedelics for their therapeutic potential. Though initial results seem promising, the research has a significant shortcoming: the lack of racial and ethnic diversity among research teams and study participants.
1
A new study finds widespread exclusion of minorities in psychedelic research.
We’re seeing an explosion of medical research into psychedelics. Psilocybin, or shrooms, to treat major depressive disorder. Ayahuasca, a psychotropic plant medicine from the Amazon, and ibogaine, a potent hallucinogen from Africa, to treat addiction. LSD for anxiety.
Through this treatment plan, the patient was able to “reconceptualize her trauma” and “was able to move through difficult memories and emotions rather than letting them consume her,” explained U of O associate professor, Monnica Williams.
These substances are being touted as a game-changing intervention for mental health. But it’s not clear if their promise will be accessible to all.
2
As California’s first surgeon general, Nadine Burke Harris, MPH ’02, is carrying out the visionary agenda she has brought to medical care: finding the roots of disease in childhood adversity and treating the long-term consequences.
Children who experience adversity tend to have health problems later in life. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris explains why—and how we can help heal those wounds.