Psychedelics To Alleviate Mental Issues

In this 21st century, mental health disorders are one of the most common issues encountered by people, leading to further disparities in their physical health. Stress and pressure from the schools, colleges, workplace, family etc., has made people’s lives hell. Especially in recent times, when people worldwide are confined in their houses, there are high chances that they may end up in depression. Moreover, researchers state that people who recovered from COVID-19 will have a substantial breakdown in their mental health. The most disappointing fact is that mental health disorders are not considered much significant by the people around them when compared to physical issues.

Mental health disorders

Clearly speaking, mental health disorders are a common term used to describe a wide variety of disorders associated with mental health. Some of them are as follows:

• Depression

•  Anxiety

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

• Bipolar Disorder

• Schizophrenia

• Various types of personality disorders

Psychedelics

Psychedelics are a type of hallucination inducing drugs that trigger psychedelic experiences, i.e., exceptional and extraordinary stages of consciousness. They initiate perceptual changes such as hallucinations, altered consciousness, hypnotic states etc. Some examples are LSD, psilocybin, Dimethyltryptamine etc.

Psychedelics have also been tested in experiments to simulate psychosis and to impose mind control, however neither has been found to be particularly effective. Here are few examples of psychedelic drugs -

1. LSD: Lysergic acid diethylamide or LSD is a psychedelic is chemically produced from ergot, a type of mould that grows on rye grain.

2. Psilocybin or Magic Mashrooms: Magic mushrooms contain psilocybin, a naturally found psychoactive and hallucinogenic compound.

3. Ecstasy: Also know as MDMA, is ahallucinations causing stimulant drug. This drug was mainly developed to make someone feeling high.

Significance of Psychedelics

Recent research suggests that psychedelics can play a major role in normalizing the mental health of patients. Prominent psychedelic companies like Bright Minds Biosciences have turned their research towards the direction. Usually, psychedelics are serotonergic agonists. That is, they increase the stimulation of 5-HT2C receptors. Thus, they can increase the level of serotonin in the patient, thus keeping the patient normal. In short, psychedelics can be an excellent therapeutic device in this era, where mental illness rules. Psychedelics are thus promising therapeutic agents that can create a benchmark in the field of psychiatry. Pharmaceutical companies around the world use their stocks to invest in research on the same.

Bright Minds Biosciences and their research

The most prominent pharmaceutical company that is performing research on psychedelics today is Bright Minds Biosciences. They have experienced and knowledgeable scientists who are doing research on the therapeutic benefits psychedelics can have in the serotonergic system. Their research team studies the effect of specific receptors, especially serotonergic receptors, on the body and thus creates new drug designs or modify the chemical structures of existing drugs to reduce side effects and improve efficacy. Since now, the company stocks have been doing well on the clinical side too. With such a pace, Bright Minds Biosciences can create a new revolution in the field of psychiatry.