Visiting a Talk on Psychedelics and Psychotherapy
Today I visited a talk by Gregor Hasler organized by the student-led PROZ organization. Below, a few random highlights that stuck with me.
Prof. Hasler presented the REBUS model by Carhart-Harris et al.1 which states that the brain, when under psychedelics (LSD or Psilicybin) relaxes previously entrenched beliefs. At the same time, it makes the patient more receptive to new information. So for example somebody who has had depression for a long time, is then more capable of new thoughts.
Another general observation of the effect of psychedelics is a relaxation and less impulses to do something. So for example a person with OCD constantly washing their hands stops washing them during the duration of the trip - just this knowledge that not washing their hands does not result in anything catastrophic is already a form of therapy.
He also talked about his "helioscope" hypothesis. He has observed that during a trip the psychedelic substance "itself" provides an exposure of the person to their struggles. So for example if somebody is afraid of spiders, they are somehow able to see their fear in a filtered way without being blinded by it. This experience of an insight, not just talking and thinking about a problem, is apparently very important in therapy.
Prof. Hasler also described current substances used in therapy are efficient at reducing stress. But this relevant for anhedonia, where the person lacks motivation to do things. In this case psychedelics (of the type LSD/Psylocybin/MDMA) can increase the sensitivity to positive things, the positivity effect. This is well illustrated in the first experiences of the discoverer of LSD:
Exhausted, I then slept, to awake next morning refreshed, with a clear head, though still somewhat tired physically. A sensation of well-being and renewed life flowed through me. Breakfast tasted delicious and gave me extraordinary pleasure. When I later walked out into the garden, in which the sun shone now after a spring rain, everything glistened and sparkled in a fresh light. The world was as if newly created. All my senses vibrated in a condition of highest sensitivity, which persisted for the entire day.
LSD - My Problem Child, Albert Hoffman
At the end, when asked about DMT, Hasler also made the funny statement I am putting all my money on DMT - in regards of future possibilities. So far DMT was not relevant for therapy because of the short trip duration, which is why Rick Strassman told him that it is useless. But now, there is the possibility of DMT infusion over longer time periods. For this, Hasler is now planning a study.
Another person asked him about psychedelics and their effect on ego/self. Apparently the concept of self is very weird and it is not really clear what it actually is. But there exist the concept of a narrative self which is the personal, internal story each person develops of themselves; and the concept of a minimal self which is the (sensory) experience in the present. Psychedelics move the person during the trip from the narrative self to the minimal self, such that judgement goes away and the sensory experiences become more relevant.