CONTROLLED CLINICAL ENVIRONMENT APPEAR TO HELP PEOPLE SUFFERING
FROM SEVERE DEPRESSION.
50 YEARS AGO PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS
WERE AT THE CENTER OF AMERICA’S
COUNTERCULTURE.
COUNTERCULTURE. PROMISING GOOD TRIPS AND SOME
VERY BAD TRIPS TOO.
TODAY THE DEA RESTRICTS
PSYCHEDELICS AS SCHEDULE I DRUGS
WITH NO CURRENTLY ACCEPTED
MEDICAL USE AND A HIGH POTENTIAL
FOR ABUSE.
FOR ABUSE. BUT PIERCE CHAPEN BELIEVES THEY
SAVED HER LIFE.
>> IT WAS VERY PROFOUND AND
PREFRESHING.
PREFRESHING. >> SHE STRUGGLED WITH SEVERE
DEPRESSION, CONSIDERING SUICIDE.
A NURSE PRACTITIONER SENT HER TO
A REVOLUTIONARY TREATMENT AT
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY IN
BALTIMORE, USING A KEY
INGREDIENT IN HALLUCINOGENIC
DRUGS TO TREAT DEPRESSION.
WITHIN HOURS SHE FELT RELIEF.
>> I WAS REALLY HAPPY.
I WAS SEEING THINGS A LOT
DIFFERENTLY FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN A LONG TIME, SINCE CHILDHOOD.
>> Reporter: PROGRAM COORDINATOR
MARY SHOWS US THE COUCH WHERE
PATIENTS TAKE A SINGLE PILL.
>> THIS IS THE SESSION ROOM?
>> THIS IS THE SESSION ROOM.
>> Reporter: THEN SPENT SIX
HOURS LISTENING TO MUSIC WITH
THEIR EYES CLOSED, CLOSELY
WATCHED BY STAFF.
>> AND THEN WE PUT A BLANKET
OVER THEM TO KIND OF TUCK THEM
IN TO MAKE THEM FEEL SAFE AND
COMFORTABLE AND COZY AND WE
BEGIN THE DAY.
>> THIS IS LITERALLY THE ROOM
WHERE PEOPLE GO ON A TRIP.
>> YES.
>> YES. >> Reporter: THE LATEST RESULTS
ARE EYE OPENING.
HOPKINS HAS TREATED 360
PATIENTS.
PATIENTS. FOR MOST JUST ONE OR TWO
SESSIONS LIFTS THEIR DEPRESSION
FOR MONTHS ON END.
BUT UNLIKE THE 1960s SICK
PSYCHEDELICS THE MEDS ARE
CLINICALLY CALCULATED.
CLINICALLY CALCULATED. >> ARE YOU ENCOURAGED, EXCITED
BY WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED SO FAR?
>> OH, I THINK THERE’S NOTHING
MORE INTERESTING THAT I HAVE
DONE IN MY ALMOST 50 YEARS OF
DOING CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
RESEARCH.
RESEARCH. THERE’S NOTHING THAT COMPARES TO
THIS.
THIS. >> Reporter: THE RESEARCH
SUGGESTS IT REDUCES THE BRAIN’S
RESPONSE TO NEGATIVE EMOTIONAL
STIMULI.
STIMULI. ON THE LEFT A BRAIN BEFORE
TREATMENT.
TREATMENT. THE AMYGDALA IS BRIGHT RED AND
AFTER TREATMENT IT’S FAR MORE
MUTED AND THIS BEFORE AND AFTER
SCAN, SHOWING FAR MORE
CONNECTIVITY IN THE BRAIN AFTER
TREATMENT.
TREATMENT. >> AND THEY’LL -- THEY HAVE THIS
FEELING OF HOPE THAT THEY’VE
NEVER HAD BEFORE.
THIS FEELING OF WORTHINESS THAT
THEY HAVE NEVER HAD BEFORE.
>> Reporter: BUT THE TRIP CAN
ALSO BE TERRIFYING.
>> IT CAN BE ONE OF THE MOST
FEARFUL FEELINGS, LIKE YOU’RE
GOING TO DIE.
FEELING LIKE IF YOU DO LET GO
THAT YOU’RE GOING TO GO CRAZY.
>> Reporter: BUT WHEN IT’S OVER
AN OVERWHELMING FEELING OF
RELIEF.
RELIEF. >> PEOPLE WILL HAVE EXPERIENCES
THAT THEY FEEL ARE REALLY
PROFOUNDLY MEANINGFUL TO THEM
AND TO WHICH THEY ATTRIBUTE
ENDURING LONG-TERM CHANGES IN
POSITIVE ATTITUDES, MOODS AND
BEHAVIOR.
BEHAVIOR. >> Reporter: FOR PIERCE IT’S
MEANT A WHOLE NEW LIFE AFTER
JUST TWO SESSIONS SHE’S BEEN
DEPRESSION FREE FOR 18 MONTHS.
>> IT’S AMAZING.
I WANT TO WAKE UP EVERY DAY.
I FEEL LIKE MY LIFE HAS MEANING
TO IT.
TO IT. >> Reporter: OKAY, A LOT OF
CAVEATS HERE.
CAVEATS HERE. DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.
THESE ARE CAREFULLY CONTROLLED
STUDIES.
STUDIES. PATIENTS ARE VETTED FOR
PRE-EXISTING
PRE-EXISTING PRE-EXISTING PSYCHIATRIC
PRE-EXISTING PSYCHIATRIC CONDITIONS FIRST.
CONDITIONS FIRST. JUST ONE OR TWO PILLS MAY BE
ABLE TO REPLACE DAILY
MEDICATIONS FOR MONTHS OR YEARS
ON END WITHOUT THERAPY.
THE RESULTS SO FAR ARE SO
ENCOURAGING THAT A HANDFUL OF
UNIVERSITY MED CENTERS HAVE NOW
JOINED JOHNS HOPKINS IN DOING
THIS RESEARCH.
THIS RESEARCH. GUYS, ONE OTHER POINT, THIS IS
NOT AN ADDICTIVE DRUG.
>> WE HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.
>> YES.
>> YES. >> FIRST OF ALL, DID I
UNDERSTAND THAT RIGHT, SOMEBODY
COULD HAVE A BAD TRIP, BUT STILL
RECEIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE
LONG-TERM ANTI-DEPRESSIVE
LONG-TERM ANTI-DEPRESSIVE BENEFITS OF THIS?
>> THE BAD TRIP COULD BE PART OF
THE PROCESS THAT YOU’RE WORKING
THROUGH.
THROUGH. WHEN YOU COME OUT OF THAT TRIP,
ACCORDING TO THE RESEARCHERS,
YOU STILL FEEL THIS OVERALL
SENSE OF RELIEF AND HAPPINESS.
>> WHAT STRUCK ME WAS JUST HOW
LONG IT LASTS.
I THOUGHT IT WAS ONE OF THOSE
THINGS THAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY,
WELL, IT LASTS FOR A WEEK OR
TWO.
TWO. THAT WOMAN WAS SAYING A YEAR AND
A HALF.
A HALF. >> 18 MONTHS FOR HER.
LISTEN, IF THIS CAN BE APPLIED
TO OTHER PROBLEMS, NOT JUST
DEPRESSION, THEY’RE LOOKING AT
ADDICTIONS AS WELL, ADDICTIONS
TO DRUGS AND ALCOHOL AS WELL.
IF THAT CAN BE APPLIED, AND IF
IT CAN HELP PEOPLE BREAK
ADDICTIONS THEY HAVE PRELIMINARY
RESEARCH TO SUGGEST, IN FACT, IT
DOES.
DOES. >> YOU’RE SITTING THERE, THEY’RE
NOT TALKING, IT’S NOT HYPNOSIS.
SIT THERE IN A CONTROLLED
SETTING --
SETTING -- >> THEY HOLD YOUR HAND, YOU
LISTEN TO MUSIC, YOU TRIP OUT,
LITERALLY.
LITERALLY. THEY KEEP YOU RIGHT THERE.
THEY DON’T WANT SOMEBODY ON A
BAD TRIP RUNNING OUT THE DOOR
AND JUMPING OUT OF A WINDOW.
THEY KEEP YOU THERE BUT AS YOU
WORK THROUGH THIS WHOLE THING
ACCORDING TO THE RESEARCHERS
PEOPLE COME OUT FEELING ALIVE
AGAIN.
AGAIN. >> WOW.
>> WOW. >> WOW.