The world of psychedelic is constantly having a wide range of physical and mental advantages. It seems that slowly and finally, the medical world is starting to accept drugs such as psilocybin and LSD as real drug treatment alternatives.
In new recent studies, more research has been published which prove that the well -known substance of Magic mushrooms can be used to treat people with a addedction alcohol.
We will discover why this method has worked, what the study says explicitly and other information concerning the links between psychedelics and alcoholism.
What is alcohol dependence?
The dependencies arise in many forms, and it is often difficult to make the difference between them and habits. For example, is brushing your teeth dependence? Well, habits are generally less harmful than dependencies.
The truth is that dependencies are habits created in the hope ofget some reward. This reward is generally the feeling that the specific substance can give you.
In the case of heroin, it is this feeling of euphoria. In the case of alcohol, it could be this feeling of dissociated pleasure and anti-anxiety. Dependence is something on which We generally do not have much power And who, over time, has a negative impact on ourselves and perhaps on those around us.
However, habits are generally less harmful. a study From the University of Alvernia in Pennsylvania to write:
"Probably the most important distinction between habit and dependence is the way in which the choice, to a certain extent, is still possible with behaviors that create addiction. In terms of dependence, people generally find it more difficult to make decisions because of their dependence on a substance or behavior.”
Alcoholism is one of the most common dependencies, it is partly because alcohol is so easy to access and is an integral part of most companies. In fact, in France, 5.3 % of men and 1.5 % of women have alcohol dependence. This represents around 2 million people in France with alcohol problems. Consequently, around 49,000 people die each year from this cause, which is the second avoidable cause of death in France.
"It would seem that psychedelic substances are mistaken in the drug list."
If psychedelics are still prohibited in France, more and more scientists are studying their benefits. Their active ingredient, deemed without dependence, could help in care against depression, smoking, alcoholism or even neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. Video explanations in Michel Cimes' program "The powers of the human being" :
What is alcoholism and how it manifests?
Well, alcohol dependence generally means that a person places the drink above most other aspects of their life, including work and family. This can sometimes harm these other parts of their lives.
Others signs of alcoholism understand:
- Withdrawal symptoms
- Inability to stop drinking
- Increased tolerance
Sometimes it is not always easy to know when you are alcoholic. Drinks Aware wrote
A useful list of 4 questions to ask you :
- Do I often feel the need to have a drink?
- Do I have trouble because of my alcohol consumption?
- Have other people warned me of my alcohol consumption?
- Do I think my alcohol consumption causes me problems?
If the answer to these questions is "yes", it may be time to ask a professional for advice.
How alcoholism is treated
A dependence on anything is considered a habit, and many think that habits can be modified once you have discovered the cause of this scheme in the brain.
Usually this is based on the "pleasure principle". All dependencies including sex, game, drugs and alcohol, cause a push of dopamine In the accumbens nucleus (zone of the brain which activates the feeling of well -being). It is like a reward for the body and the mind when these dependencies are satisfied. Once the brain realizes that a specific activity can cause this same dopamine whip, it wants it again and again.
THE "Help Guide”Wrote:
"The brain records all pleasures in the same way, whether they come from a psychoactive drug, a monetary reward, a sexual encounter or a satisfactory meal ... Addictive drugs provide a shortcut to the Brain reward system by flooding the core accumbens of dopamine.
For years, Alcoholism has been treated by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which can help identify the negative thinking patterns that usually lead to drinking. This can obviously take some time to work.
Another method is a detoxification cure Complete, deleting all access to alcohol, which generally requires help from family and friends. Another current treatment is that Mutual aid groups, like anonymous alcoholics, which allow drug addicts not to feel so alone in their fight towards sobriety.
However, lately, people have started to turn to psilocybin As a possible method of changing the shema to stop alcohol dependence.
Psilocybin and addiction
Psilocybin is the substance of Magic mushrooms who is responsible for Psychoactive effects. The substance can cause hallucinations and psychotropic perceptions.
The drug acts on the neuronal pathways of the brain which include the neurotransmitter that creates serotonin. It's a serotonin influx who would be the cause of many of these hallucinogenic effects.
However, research on these drugs has been limited due to the fact that few health professionals have used the substance so far.
“Alert Science" writing :
"Because they are classified in Appendix 1 - which means that they do not have" accepted medical use "and that they are illegal - it was quite difficult for scientists to understand exactly what 'They can and cannot do. "
However, a recent study - conducted by scientists from New York University and published in Jama Psychiatry gave a Group of men and women suffering from alcohol dependence a treatment with psilocybin. Selected people were people who drank about four or five glasses (or more) by day. They discovered that those who followed psilocybine therapy considerably reduced their alcohol consumption - 83% To be precise. Those who have taken an antihistamine placebo have reduced their alcohol consumption by only 51 %. Stat News writing :
"Eight months after the first dose of psilocybin, almost half (48%) of those who had psilocybin had completely stopped drinking, twice as 24% in the placebo group. The study was double blind and Relatively important for a psychedelic study, with 93 participants ”
The study was praised as a giant step towards the search for effective treatment for people with alcoholism. Each participant received 12 psychotherapy sessions over 12 weeks, with 2 -day sessions using the specific drug.
It was quite obvious for the participants to say whether they had received a placebo or not, because psilocybin has quite obvious and intense effects.
John Costas, a 32 -year -old man from New York, received real treatment and he declared :
"It definitely affected my life and I would say that it saved my life ... My greatest expectations were to be able to control my desires. It overcome this. It took my desire to me ”
Although the results were impressive, it was not clear how the substance really affected the brain of the people involved. In addition, overall, participants did not have as much alcohol dependence as what is common in this type of study.
What this research does, however, is to highlight the potential of psychedelic dependence therapy. We hope there will be many others to come. However, this is not the first time that such a research has been conducted.
LSD and alcoholism
In the 1950s and 1960s, professionals began to test the effects of LSD on alcoholism, and the results were just as promising. The problem was then that none of the studies had enough participants to be considered useful.
However, if you combine six of the tests carried out during this period, the statistics are in fact very useful.
The studies focused on 536 participants, including 59 % of those who took LSD reported lower levels of alcohol abuse. In comparison, only 38 % of those who received a placebo declared the same thing. These advantages are said to last about 3 to 6 months.
Nature writing :
"Psychedelics were popularized by psychiatrists in the 1950s as having a number of medical uses ... before political pressure in the United States and elsewhere puts a large end to work ... Alcoholism was considered As one of the most promising clinical applications of the LSD ... The co-founder of anonymous alcoholics, Bill Wilson, would have defended the benefits of the LSD in the book Pass It On: The Bill Wilson Story and How Aa's Message Reached the World »
Bill Wilson, the founder of anonymous alcoholics in the United States, would have consumed LSD to end his alcohol dependence. In response, he wanted the others to do the same, because he was amazed at the effect that the substance had on him.
However, Wilson must have stopped advertising for the medication because it endangered the reputation of AA because of government opinions on recreational drugs.
Drug classification according to their danger:
Conclusion 👍
It is clear that we are entering an important moment in medical research and psychedelic drugs. For the first time since the 1950s, the medical profession has once again achieved the benefits that these types of substances can have on people with addiction. Hope is that studies like this continue to occur and that possibly the therapy in psilocybin and LSD can be easily accessible to those who need it.
Warning :
All the information contained in this article is based on sources and references, and all the opinions expressed are mine. I do not give advice to anyone and although I am happy to discuss subjects, if someone has another question or concern, he should ask for advice from a competent specialist. People who suffer from psychiatric, neurological or cardiovascular disorders or who use psychiatric drugs should completely avoid psychedelic and other drugs.
