LSD With Depression: Does It Work?

The majority of studies to far have focused on psilocybin and MDMA, but early research on LSD Online is quite promising. In fact, it might end up being MORE successful. Psychedelics, more notably shrooms, ketamine, and MDMA, have been stigmatized for decades as being harmful and unhelpful to health. Now, however, they are suddenly considered cool.

Since these medications have such great potential for treating mental diseases like depression, PTSD, addiction, and anxiety, extensive study is being done. These medications have a great safety profile in addition to having effects that endure for a long time with little use. The FDA accorded breakthrough therapy designation to mushrooms and MDMA because of their high efficacy and safety, thereby accelerating the procedures required to get them licensed for use.

As psychedelic-assisted therapy produces a "paradigm shift" in psychiatric research, ketamine clinics are mushrooming. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicide, and addiction are all successfully treated with this method, which is most frequently utilized for depressive illnesses. An study of nine different trials revealed few participants experienced serious adverse effects and many experienced successful short-term outcomes.

How Does LSD Work To Treat Depression?

LSD, also known as "acid," is a common psychedelic that is made partially from the ergot fungus found in rye. LSD was created in 1938 by Albert Hoffman, albeit unintentionally. To cut a long story short, he was researching new uterine contraction treatments because LSD proved ineffective. Years passed before he decided to try it again after putting it aside. The rest of the narrative began when a bit got on his skin.

LSD was widely accessible by the 1960s. In their quest to learn more about the substance, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert had almost unrestricted access to it. The men's research eventually got out of hand, which ultimately resulted in their removal from Harvard, where both of them had been professors.

The US government placed LSD to its list of Schedule 1 prohibited substances in 1968, thereby stopping all study on the drug until this day. LSD is currently undergoing Phase 2 clinical trials to treat major depressive disorder as of 2022. It underwent a Phase 2 study for anxiety symptoms in serious physical illnesses or psychological anxiety disorders in 2021.

The Mechanism of Action of LSD (How It Treats Depression):

LSD has a wide-ranging impact on the brain, which enables it to treat depression in a variety of ways.

Has a high affinity for serotonin receptors, particularly as a partial agonist of 5HT2a and an agonist of 5HT1a; it also binds to a number of other serotonin receptors, such as 5-HT1A, 5-HT2C, 5-HT5A, and 5-HT6.Changes the ventral tegmental area, a region of the brain that is home to neurons, most of which are dopaminergic.Promotes dopamine D2 production.Subtly strengthens glutamatergic neurotransmission receptors, which facilitate excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system and control a variety of functions.Stimulates the trace amine associated receptor 1 (TAAR1), which controls immunological function and the CNS neurotransmission of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin neurons.Cortico-subcortical and cortico-cortical transmission are altered.Stimulates the sympathetic nervous system by acting on alpha-2 adrenergic receptors.

Psilocybin (and its patentable analogues) are the main focus of research at the moment, mostly because it is less contentious and lasts for a shorter period of time.

LSD Might Be More Effective Than Other Psychedelics:

LSD might ascend to the top of the psychedelic food chain as it becomes more accessible. While LSD is categorized alongside other traditional hallucinogens like mushrooms, mescaline, MDMA, and DMT, there are some characteristics that make it unique.

Psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT cannot attach to 5-HT2A receptors as well as LSD. Although there haven't been any research on humans in this area, it also has a stronger affinity to 5-HT1 receptors. The only serotonergic hallucinogen that can bind to both adrenergic and dopaminergic receptors is LSD.

LSD Decreases Inflammation:

As was already mentioned, serotonergic psychedelics have been shown to regulate the impact of inflammation on immunological responses.

Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines Are Reduced By LSD:

Depression is linked to high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 (76,77). LSD and other traditional psychedelics work to inhibit cytokine production by immune cells by activating 5-HT2A receptors. LSD has also been shown to have the ability to reduce B-lymphocyte proliferation and the synthesis of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-2, IL-4, and IL-6.

A Change in LSD's Signaling Pathways:

By activating NF-B and mitogen-activated protein kinases, traditional psychedelics change signalling pathways that are implicated in inflammation, cellular proliferation, and cell survival. Traditional psychedelics can selectively recruit anti-inflammatory effector pathways and disrupt or stimulate downstream TNF-a receptor and target signaling, including NF-jB, when used to activate 5-HT2A receptors.

Using LSD To Treat Autoimmune Disorders:

Traditional psychedelics aid or treat autoimmune illnesses by focusing on psychosomatic causes, maladaptive chronic stress responses, inflammatory pathways, immunological regulation, and enteric microbiomes.

LSD Increases Natural Killer Cell Production:

In certain doses, LSD increased the quantity of Natural Killer cells and decreased their production in rats. Fun Fact: LSD may be more effective than existing anti-inflammatory medicines at treating a number of refractory, crippling, and fatal conditions because of its effects on serotonin and immunological functions. These conditions include cancer and chronic infections.

Fourteen serotonin receptors have been identified, thirteen of which are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Numerous diseases are connected to mutations in these gene sequences. GPCRs are a pharmaceutical target due to their involvement in practically all biological processes. In actuality, GPCRs are the target of around 30% of all FDA-approved drugs and 65% of all prescription drugs.

LSD Enhances Life Satisfaction and Mood:

LSD can have a variety of effects, including mood giddiness, euphoria, and increased mental vigor. But its effects go beyond just a temporary cure that goes off.

LSD Supports Neural Networks:

Through a protracted process that encourages neurogenesis, reduces neuroinflammation and fibrin deposition, and stabilizes glial-neuronal cross-talk, LSD can improve the brain circuits responsible for mood.

LSD Modifies Mood-Related Brain Connections:

According to studies, LSD enhances pleasant emotions, empathy, and social behavior while also fostering better interactions with others and the environment. Their anxiety, sadness, and other negative emotions subsided. Even a single dose of LSD altered the connection between brain regions associated with good moods.

LSD Has a Beneficial Effect on Cognitive Function:

In a meta-analysis of 14 research, convergent and divergent thinking as well as flexibility effects that may lessen rumination were all positively impacted by LSD. While experiencing favourable emotions like exhilaration, patients also experienced periods of anxiety and depression.

Twenty-four participants participated in a second trial that examined the effects of three different LSD dosages (5, 10, and 20 mcg). The evaluation of cognition, experience, and emotion involved several tests. The majority of participants reported feeling friendlier, more upbeat, more engaged, and less distracted. Although they experienced heightened disorientation and worry as well, most people found the experience to be beneficial.

Traditional psychedelics heighten consciousness and develop mental flexibility, which break the cycles of unfavourable and compulsive ideas linked to sadness and anxiety. Changes in behaviour, values, and attitudes are frequent; this phenomenon is frequently referred to as a "inverse post-traumatic stress disorder-like effect."

LSD has a number of noticeable impacts, but one that suggests increased plasticity is how it speeds up the reward learning rate. With LSD, participants learnt through reward and punishment more quickly, but they also learned more quickly through rewards. LSD might be used in therapy to alter unhealthy relationships.

Clinical trial participants report higher life satisfaction and overall wellbeing rates of up to 87%. Many researchers recommend using them to treat PTSD, major depressive disorder, and end-of-life anxiety since the benefits are so strong.

LSD Encourages Spiritual Healing:

LSD is a drug that induces an altered state of consciousness and is utilized for spiritual or religious objectives. Although these concepts are obviously subjectively defined, users frequently describe having had spiritual or mystical experiences.

The impact of attitude, personality, background, and religious views on spiritual Psychedelic experiences has been the subject of further investigation by researchers. These trips are frequently mentioned as one of the most significant events in people's lives. Exploiting this potential might be therapeutic.

Two categories of spiritual experiences have so far been distinguished by academics. The first contains mystical qualities, making its users feel as though they have connected with something transcendent, ideal, or flawless. The second focuses more on individual development; participants feel states of understanding, connection, and joy.

People with a religious affiliation were more likely to have the first type. They noticed no rapid changes, which is interesting, but they thought it was a lifelong process. The prevalence of past trauma is high among those with autoimmune diseases and depression. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy combines the therapeutic effects of conventional therapy with the advantages of psychedelics.

This combination offers a better chance of resolving these old problems and is one scenario in which mystical or spiritual therapy may be used. By disrupting regional brain connectivity and local brain networks through neuronal avalanches, or "a cascade of synchronized activity in the cortex," LSD and other psychedelics can reset the brain.

Hallucinogens widen the mind and heighten suggestibility, enabling people to see things from a different angle and derive deeper meaning. This makes it simpler to alter unhelpful attitudes, feelings, and actions. However, evidence points to a relationship between therapeutic effectiveness and the depth of the mystical experience, raising doubts about the efficacy of micro dosing. Later, more on that.