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Shroom Shmooz

An inflection point for psychedelics. With the legalization of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) possibly less than 12 months away, acceptance of psychedelics as a viable option for more effective treatment of psychiatric disorders is a fast-approaching inflection point. In fact, some might argue that we are already at this point, with S-ketamine-based Spravato, the first psychedelic-like treatment to be FDA approved to treat a mental disorder, seeing explosive growth in uptake in recent quarters. Spravato has grown to be a near-$700 million market. As access and payor reimbursement for the treatment continue to expand, Spravato is on track to become a $1 billion-plus market in the not-too-distant future. In with the new, out with the old? Most medications treating psychiatric disorders today involve antidepressants. Most of those commonly prescribed are classed as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These medications are typically used for extended periods of time, with prolonged use leading to undesired effects. In contrast, it has been demonstrated that the use of psychedelics in treatments would require no more than several sessions, with the benefits lasting longer than those delivered by the current standard of care. Nobody is suggesting that SSRI use will disappear, but as more psychedelics become legal and their use to treat depression and a variety of other mental disorders gains traction, the use of traditional antidepressants, a ~$17 billion market, will likely become much less prevalent. A guide to psychedelics. It now seems that psychedelics are on an irreversible journey to becoming an important part of the medical mental health practitioner’s toolbox. Below, we present an overview of the frontline psychedelic compounds that can be expected to be in that toolbox.