Last updated on January 8th, 2024 at 10:08 am

Since 1987 when Prozac appeared on the scene psychiatry, the pharmaceutical industry and even the non-profit mental health associations combined to “educate” the public that the mental disorders are just like other medical problems, that is, they are essentially brain diseases which can be effectively treated by the appropriate psychiatric drug.

The “theory” was that in the mental disorders there is a chemical imbalance in the brain and the right psychiatric drug restores the balance.  The theory encouraged non-psychiatric medical doctors to begin diagnosing and treating the full range of the mental disorders and soon these non-psychiatric physicians were treating over 80% of those accessing mental health care.

The vast majority of psychiatrists were no longer treating patients with psychotherapy and were spending the majority of their time in psychiatric inpatient treatment and taking referrals from physicians whose patients were not responding to the prescribed drugs.

What psychiatry is telling us today about the Hallucinogenic/Psychedelic Drugs?

“Atrophy of neurons in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a key role in the pathophysiology of depression and related disorders.  The ability to promote both structural and functional plasticity in the PFC has been hypothesized to underlie the fast-acting antidepressant properties of the dissociative anesthetic ketamine”.We are told by the investigators that ketamine is not unique in its ability to promote structural and functional plasticity.

Here is the writer’s comment on the above:  A good theory is one that explains the pertinent facts of the case.  I believe it was ketamine that was administered to depressed patients who were severe suicidal risks.

The drug is now promoted as a fast acting drug to treat suicide.  However, the writer noted that at least one patient after treatment said he wanted to kill himself as much as he ever did but the suicide thoughts didn’t seem to bother him anymore!  Is ketamine an antidepressant which curtails acting out suicidal events or is it a feel good drug that masks but does not treat the depression?

However, psychiatric proponents of hallucinogens for anything that ails you forgot to tell us something that I believe is very important.  Even psychiatrists accept the fact that these drugs impair the brain substantially and even though the user feels better their brain continues to function in a very impaired state, which compromises among other things the ability to learn in a broad sense.

Was this why so many psychedelic uses became addicted and continued that life style?  As I remember these hallucinogenic street drugs were considered by society to be feel good drugs but also dangerous.  Were they wrong?

Psychiatric researchers said the “Psychedelics such as LSD and others have been shown to have clinical efficacy in the treatment of depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD, and other psychiatric disorders.  They also show promise as a potential treatment for neurodegenerative disorders such as AZ, dementias and Parkinson’s disease, as well as stroke recovery and neuropathic pains”.

I know of no other pharmaceutical class that purports to treat so many major and different health problems than these modern hallucinogens.  Are these truly wonder drugs as proponents say or are they a modern day equivalent of snake oil?  I don’t know about you but I have already made up my mind.