Cited by 706Psychedelics and Drug StudiesTreatment of Major DepressionReligion, Spirituality, and Psychology

The Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Past, Present, and Future

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Carhart-Harris, Robin L, Goodwin, Guy M·2017·Neuropsychopharmacology

Abstract

Plant-based psychedelics, such as psilocybin, have an ancient history of medicinal use. After the first English language report on LSD in 1950, psychedelics enjoyed a short-lived relationship with psychology and psychiatry. Used most notably as aids to psychotherapy for the treatment of mood disorders and alcohol dependence, drugs such as LSD showed initial therapeutic promise before prohibitive legislature in the mid-1960s effectively ended all major psychedelic research programs. Since the early 1990s, there has been a steady revival of human psychedelic research: last year saw reports on the first modern brain imaging study with LSD and three separate clinical trials of psilocybin for depressive symptoms. In this circumspective piece, RLC-H and GMG share their opinions on the promises and pitfalls of renewed psychedelic research, with a focus on the development of psilocybin as a treatment for depression.

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  • Classic psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin have shown promise as aids in psychotherapy for mood disorders and substance dependence.

    “Classic psychedelics, such as synthetic LSD and psilocybin, which is found in certain mushrooms, have shown promise as aids in psychotherapy e.g., for mood disorders and substance dependence [1, 5, 33].”
  • Classical psychedelics are not generally considered to be addictive.

    “In contrast, classical psychedelics are not generally considered to be addictive (Carhart-Harris and Goodwin, 2017;Nichols et al., 2017) as animals will not readily self-administer these compounds (Fantegrossi et al., 2008).”

    From Psychedelics and Neural Plasticity: Therapeutic Implications (2022) · cites this paper as Carhart-Harris and Goodwin, 2017

    The 'Psychedelics for Mental Illness' and 'The Present Revival' sections discuss therapeutic use, including trials for alcohol and tobacco addiction, but do not address whether classical psychedelics themselves are addictive. Searches for addictive or habit-forming properties, abuse potential, dependence, and self-administration found no passage that settles the claim. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [91]91. Watts R, Day C, Krzanowski J, Nutt D, Carhart-Harris R (2017). Patients' accounts of increased 'connection' and 'acceptance' after psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. J Hum Psychol (in press).

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Authors
Carhart-Harris, R. L., & Goodwin, G. M.
Affiliations
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
Corresponding author
Carhart-Harris, Robin L
Venue
Neuropsychopharmacology
Published
2017-04-26
Volume
42
Issue
11
Pages
2105-2113
ISSN
  • 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
  • 1740-634X
OpenAlex
W2610144880
Cited by
706
References
86
Citations by year
2026: 107 · 2025: 129 · 2024: 96 · 2023: 81 · 2022: 76 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 75 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 12 · 2013: 1
FWCI
6.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Strong
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
Keywords
psychedelics, psilocybin, LSD, depression treatment, mood disorders, alcoholism, psychedelic drug regulation
MeSH terms
Animals, Mental Disorders, Hallucinogens, Humans, Psilocybin, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century

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