OPEN Foundation

Floris Wolswijk

Marcela Ot’alora – Using MDMA for trauma integration

January 11, 2022 / ICPR 2016 Talks, OPEN Lectures / By

Sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic studies (MAPS), this Phase II clinical pilot study explores the safety and efficacy of administering MDMA in conjunction with Psychotherapy to participants with treatment resistant Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Evidence in completed phase II trials, and preliminary findings in this phase II trial show promising results in reducing PTSD symptoms with a good safety profile.  Given the limited effectiveness of current available medications and therapeutic strategies, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy holds promise as a treatment option.  This talk will focus on methodology as well as individual participant experiences.
Biography
Marcela Ot’alora G. was born and raised in Colombia, S.A. and now lives in Boulder, Colorado, USA. She has a MA in Transpersonal Psychology and a MFA in Fine Arts. Marcela is dedicated to the treatment and research of trauma, first through art and later through the use of MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy. She worked as a co-therapist in the first government approved MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study in Madrid Spain and is the Principal Investigator of the Phase II MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study in Boulder, Colorado.

A Physician's Attempt to Self-Medicate Bipolar Depression with N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)

July 7, 2017 / Depression, DMT, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology / By / , , , ,

Abstract

N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a psychoactive substance that has been gaining popularity in therapeutic and recreational use. This is a case of a physician who chronically took DMT augmented with phenelzine in an attempt to self-medicate refractory bipolar depression. His presentation of altered mental status, mania, and psychosis is examined in regards to his DMT use. This case discusses DMT, the possible uses of DMT, and the theorized mechanism of DMT in psychosis and treatment of depression, particularly involving its agonist activity at 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, and 5-HT2C. It is also important to recognize the dangers of self-medication, particularly amongst physicians.
Brown, T., Shao, W., Ayub, S., Chong, D., Cornelius, C. A Physician’s Attempt to Self-Medicate Bipolar Depression with N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 10.1080/02791072.2017.1344898
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Genie in a blotter: A comparative study of LSD and LSD analogues' effects and user profile

May 18, 2017 / LSD, New substances, Other substances, Papers, Psychology, Publications / By / , , , ,

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
This study aimed to describe self-reported patterns of use and effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) analogues (AL-LAD, 1P-LSD, and ETH-LAD) and the characteristics of those who use them.
METHODS:
An anonymous self-selected online survey of people who use drugs (Global Drug Survey 2016; N = 96,894), which measured perceived drug effects of LSD and its analogues.
RESULTS:
Most LSD analogue users (91%) had also tried LSD. The proportion of U.K. and U.S. respondents reporting LSD analogue use in the last 12 months was higher than for LSD only. LSD analogue users described the effects as psychedelic (93%), over half (55%) obtained it online, and almost all (99%) reported an oral route of administration. The modal duration (8 hr) and time to peak (2 hr) of LSD analogues were not significantly different from LSD. Ratings for pleasurable high, strength of effect, comedown, urge to use more drugs, value for money, and risk of harm following use were significantly lower for LSD analogues compared with LSD.
CONCLUSIONS:
LSD analogues were reported as similar in time to peak and duration as LSD but weaker in strength, pleasurable high, and comedown. Future studies should seek to replicate these findings with chemical confirmation and dose measurement.
Coney, L. D., Maier, L. J., Ferris, J. A., Winstock, A. R., & Barratt, M. J. (2017). Genie in a blotter: A comparative study of LSD and LSD analogues’ effects and user profile. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental. 10.1002/hup.2599
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"Too Hot to Handle": LSD, Medical Activism, and the Spring Grove Studies

May 1, 2017 / History, LSD, Other subjects, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

In the early 1950s, medical researchers across the United States began investigating the use of the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) as a facilitating agent in psychotherapy. Despite great promise, crisis struck this young field when, in the early 1960s, the federal government began tightening regulations on LSD—this being a result of public and political anxieties about increasing recreational use of the drug, as well as changing clinical trial standards. Scholars maintain that psychedelic researchers unilaterally responded to the crisis by abandoning the field, fearing that their continued association with the drug would wreak havoc on their careers and personal lives. However, a close examination of the proceedings at the Spring Grove State Hospital, located in Catonsville, Maryland, tells a different story. Drawing on archival material from Purdue’s Psychoactive Substances Research Collection, this thesis explores the Spring Grove research team’s effort to midwife a more favorable view of this defamed drug. In doing so, this analysis provides a new perspective on psychedelic researchers’ response to the LSD crisis.
Haslem, L. N. (2017). ” Too Hot to Handle”: LSD, Medical Activism, and the Spring Grove Studies.
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30 April - Q&A with Rick Strassman

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