Serotonergic hallucinogens and emerging targets for addiction pharmacotherapies.
Only time will tell if serotonergic hallucinogen-assisted psychotherapy treatment paradigms for SUDs will prove to be safe and effective in double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials. If they are, they would truly constitute a novel psychopharmacologic-psychosocial treatment paradigm to treat addictive disorders, although the risk of adverse psychological events would have to be controlled through a careful screening process and the risk of misuse of the substances or developing use syndromes would have to be considered, although the overall risk would be low because, as mentioned, SHs are unlike all other drugs of abuse in that they do not appear to produce dependence syndromes. There effects on the NA and DA range from inhibition to slight activation, all this without producing addiction. The ability of these medicinal tools to treat a range of addictive, psychiatric, and existential disorders is remarkable in scope and possibility. They truly represent a potential paradigmatic shift within the field of psychiatry, too interesting to not explore further.
Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. Stephen.ross@nyumc.org
Stephen
S
Ross
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D005971:Glutamates / Q000378:metabolism; D006213:Hallucinogens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007050:Ibogaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008237:Lysergic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000378:metabolism; D008517:Phytotherapy; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D011562:Psilocybin / Q000494:pharmacology; D012067:Religion; D012201:Reward; D058826:Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Agonists / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D005971:Glutamates; D006213:Hallucinogens; D058826:Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Agonists; D011562:Psilocybin; D007050:Ibogaine; D008237:Lysergic Acid; D004298:Dopamine