What are Psychedelics/Psychotropics?

Psychedelics are a hallucinogenic class of psychoactive drug whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness. Common psychedelics include psilocybin, DMT, ketamine and MDMA. Psychotropics include any drug that affects behavior, mood, thoughts, or perception. Psychotropics include anti-anxiety agents, antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and stimulants.

 

The most studied is ketamine, which in higher doses is an anesthetic in use for decades. MDMA is investigated in 17 Phase 2 trials and was designated a breakthrough therapy for PTSD by the FDA, a status that can expedite approval. Therapeutic results obtained with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD patients in Phase 2 studies were considered “spectacular” with approximately 70% or more of participants no longer qualifying for the diagnosis after 12 months, while the remainder third had less intense symptoms. Psilocybin is the third most studied psychedelic substance for clinical applications. It has a very high safety ratio and very low risk profile even in unsupervised settings. It’s orally administered in eight trials for major depression, cigarettes, alcohol, and cocaine use disorders and existential anxiety in life-threatening diseases, mostly cancer. LSD is the most potent psychedelic currently administered in clinical trials, and, ibogaine is the less advanced psychedelic in the development pipeline, with no interventional clinical trials executed or registered since the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) cancelled efforts to develop this compound to treat opioid addiction in the 1990’s.

 

The above is condensed from the original publication at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6041963/