Psychedelic-Like Drug That Doesn't Cause Hallucinations

[Prawnapple]

Scientists have discovered a psychedelic-like drug that can produce rapid, long-lasting antidepressant effects in mice without the effect of hallucinations.

The molecule, called AAZ-A-154, acts on the same serotonin receptors in the brain as antipsychotic drugs (like clozapine) and psychedelics (like LSD), promoting neuronal growth and producing beneficial behaviors in rodents for weeks after a single dose.

Researchers say the treatment is comparable to the fast-acting nature of ketamine, which has recently emerged as a promising drug for conditions like depression, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Scientists Discover Psychedelic-Like Drug That Doesn't Cause Hallucinations

Scientists have discovered a psychedelic-like drug that can produce rapid, long-lasting antidepressant effects in mice without the effect of hallucinations.

www.sciencealert.com

 

[Ancalagon]

Why would you not want the psychedelicness? That's the best part!

Finding a safe alternative without the risk of hallucinations would be extremely useful clinically

Snort! Ha ha!

EDIT: On a serious note, I find it.... concerning that safe, natural medicine like psilocybin mushrooms and cactus are illegal in most places, while the only legal mind medicine is now this stuff which will cost a FORTUNE. This is why they invent new things - you can't patent psilocybin, mescaline, or MDMA.

They want to make sure that you have no choice but to pay the high costs, and they want to make sure you have no alternative but to be involved in the system.

Also, I do think that sometimes it is the trip itself that is extremely beneficial, and can lead to the mind being opened and perspectives being changed. Of course, orderly systems like governments do not want minds being opened and people thinking for themselves.

 

[saor]

Finding a safe alternative without the risk of hallucinations would be extremely useful clinically, but the thing is, we still don't know if these hallucinogenic effects are needed to actually reshape the brain.

Imo the main reason something like shrooms works therapeutically is the person has a direct experience of working through the issues in their life - they face their insecurities, sadness, misconceptions head on. This often makes for an uncomfortable phase of the experience as these things are pushed from the dark into the stark light of awareness and we have no choice but to confront them in that moment and work through it.

The benefits from psychedelics come from the experience of facing those thoughts. This is very much the opposite of standard meds in which there's modulation of something like serotonin reuptake that causes downstream effects on mental perception...but as soon as those drugs are stopped, the causality stops and mental life returns to normal. There's very little persistence over time without the drug. With psychedelics the persistence over time comes from having had a tangible realization about the nature of self that stays with you once the drug wears off.