The Psychedelic Renaissance and Covid-19

July 16, 2020

To say this year has been stressful is an understatement. The world has changed inordinately in a very short amount of time. Many people’s situations are unrecognisable from last year, having lost loved ones, jobs, and the freedoms which they once enjoyed. In the wake of events like this, even in the much less far-reaching SARs epidemic of the early 2000s, cases of depression and PTSD vastly increase.

These disorders will of course need treatment. However, the pandemic has arrived as the heralded ‘psychedelic renaissance’ gains ground. It is beginning to look like the re-discovery of psychedelic therapies will become even more vital in a post Covid-19 world.

The Sooner the Treatment, the Sooner the Recovery

Due to this predicted increase in mental health issues, many experts such as Dr Morgan Campbell are calling for the FDA to speed through the usual protocols of new drug authorisation and grant ‘temporary approval’ for psychedelic therapy. Already cases of mental illness have increased due to Covid-19, meaning the sooner the treatments are available, the sooner sufferers can begin to recover.

“Twenty years of trials for psilocybin and ten years for MDMA show that they outperform currently approved medications for depression and PTSD”

Dr Morgan Campbell

In light of how quickly the world has changed and had to change, it follows that the availability of these treatments should reflect that speed.

First Trip in Lockdown

But it is not just in the aftershocks of Covid-19 that people will be finding solace in psilocybin. For many it has already been a lifeline during the long and confusing hours of lockdown. Some, in their newfound ‘me’-time have tripped for the first time. As people are being forced to reassess their priorities and lifestyles during restrictions, many who have always considered psychedelics, but never made the leap, now have had the space to try.

Stuck in a Psychic Rut

A psychedelic trip, as well as temporarily taking you out of a situation, resets you for time to come. Lockdown has created for many people a psychic rut, with the same unsolvable worries and anxious behaviours becoming habit. In an interview with i-D magazine a woman called Emily described her maiden psychedelic voyage during lockdown.

“Before the trip I was working out obsessively, scrolling through social media all the time, crying a lot. It was a very bleak situation, emotionally. After I came back from the woods my roommate said it was the first time he’d seen me look relaxed in months And he’s right! It’s really helped me to slow down.”

Microdosing for Wellness

It is not just full-on trips that have aided people during this period. Many have found microdosing the very thing to help them stay centred during lockdown. In an interview in The Metro newspaper a woman from London explained how microdosing has been a key wellness strategy for her:

‘I think it’s definitely given me moments of calm when it’s all got a bit too much, and when I’ve needed to work, it’s actually given me a bit more focus. ‘It never really crossed my mind to try microdosing before, but then this isn’t exactly how I’d pictured 2020 going down.’

Not a Moment Too Soon

With strong advocates from both the scientific and therapeutic communities, as well as normal people who have chosen to self-medicate, it’s clear that psychedelics will have a large part to play in the recovery from Covid-19. When putting the world back together, it is essential to prioritize the mental health of those that are struggling. It seems as though the psychedelic renaissance has arrived not a moment too soon.