Article Text
Abstract
Despite the fact that psychedelics were proscribed from medical research half a century ago, recent, early-phase trials on psychedelics have suggested that they bring novel benefits to patients in the treatment of several mental and substance use disorders. When beneficial, the psychedelic experience is characterized by features unlike those of other psychiatric and medical treatments. These include senses of losing self-importance, ineffable knowledge, feelings of unity and connection with others and encountering ‘deep’ reality or God. In addition to symptom relief, psychedelic experiences often lead to significant changes in a patient’s personality and worldview. Focusing on the case of psilocybin, we argue that the peculiar features of psychedelics pose certain novel risks, which warrant an enhanced informed consent process–one that is more comprehensive than what may be typical for other psychiatric medications. We highlight key issues that should be focused on during the consent process and suggest discussion prompts for enhanced consent in psychedelic psychiatry. Finally, we respond to potential objections before concluding with a discussion of ethical considerations that will arise as psychedelics proceed from highly controlled research environments into mainstream clinical psychiatry.
- informed consent
- psychiatry
- psychopharmacology
- psychotherapy
- research ethics
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
Contributors The two authors contributed equally to this manuscript.
Funding This paper was supported by R25MH119043 and The Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement There are no data in this work.
Request Permissions
If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.
Copyright information:
Read the full text or download the PDF:
Other content recommended for you
- Chronic pain and psychedelics: a review and proposed mechanism of action
- Psychedelic crossings: American mental health and LSD in the 1970s
- Recreational drug misuse: issues for the cardiologist
- Treatment resistant depression: what are the options
- Psychedelic drugs should be legally reclassified so that researchers can investigate their therapeutic potential
- Successful treatment of intractable visual hallucinations with 5 - HT2A antagonist ketanserin
- Does psychedelic drug use reduce risk of suicidality? Evidence from a longitudinal community - based cohort of marginalised women in a Canadian setting
- Pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders in the 21 st century: A call for novel approaches
- Serotonin syndrome versus neuroleptic malignant syndrome: a challenging clinical quandary
- Neuropsychiatric complications of commonly used palliative care drugs