A New Form of Treatment

Traditional psychopharmacotherapy involves symptom suppression: in other words, treating symptoms of the condition such as anxiety or depression. Typically, these medicines are taken on an ongoing basis.

Video: How are Psychedelics Different from Traditional Psychopharmacotherapy?

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In this video, Dr. Christie explains how psychedelic-assisted therapy differs from how other medicines like anti-depressants (SSRIs) are normally prescribed.

As a summary of the video, these are the key differences between psychedelic-assisted therapy and traditional psychopharmacotherapy.

Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

Typically, this form of treatment includes a limited number of doses coupled with psychotherapy, which seek to heal a psychological injury and help to target the root cause.

Traditional Psychopharmacotherapy

On the other hand, this form of treatment typically includes a daily regimen of medicine in order to target the symptoms. If medicine stops being taken, then it is possible for symptoms to return.

Did You Know?

30-50% of clients do not respond to available treatments, including anti-depressants (Husain et al., 2023).

References

Husain, M. I., Ledwos, N., Fellows, E., Baer, J., Rosenblat, J. D., Blumberger, D. M., Mulsant, B. H., & Castle, D. J. (2023). Serotonergic psychedelics for depression: What do we know about neurobiological mechanisms of action? Frontiers in psychiatry, 13