If you're a physician, there's a good chance that you may think that psychedelic therapy benefits sound too good to be true. Physicians and other healthcare professionals are asked by patients about their clinical opinion about psychedelic therapies for healing, including legal options such as ketamine and non-legal options like psilocybin, ayahuasca, and MDMA.
It's understandable that clinicians are cautious, if not even suspicious about the speed that psychedelic medicines are emerging in the media and in our culture. But at the same time, the studies are also emerging at rapid pace and with results that we can't ignore.
I felt the same way. But when the literature kept getting published, I started paying attention. I recognized that our current psychiatric treatment options - even in integrative psychiatry - had their limitations. Having tools that improved emotional and spiritual health in new and different mechanisms of actions was more important than listening to my own biases I previously held about psychedelic medicine.
I knew I needed to have an open mind because the need for new therapies was so great and the potential for therapeutic benefit was becoming known.
How does psychedelic therapy fit into physician burnout?
Healthcare providers are becoming increasingly burned out. If you are a physician or other healthcare provider, you know the reasons. You don't need me to write them out for you, because you deeply know.
Physician mental health is a public health issue. We know that if healthcare professionals are unable to adequately care for themselves at home or at work due to their work environments (time, energy, soul, pressures from administration, short staffing), it is very hard for them to continue to do the sacred work of caring for their patients. Many healthcare providers are considering leaving medicine.