With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting not only economies, livelihood, and industries worldwide, but also the mental health of individuals, organizations such as Mind Medicine Australia are taking initiative to ensure support for those impacted mentally and emotionally are at its maximum. The charity has advocated for the use of MDMA and psilocybin to treat those with mental health issues after the lockdown.
The Australian government’s federal health minister established a mental health support plan in context of the ensuing health crisis. With the bushfire crisis already causing a spike in the country’s numbers of individuals seeking support for mental health including depression, anxiety, and stress, coronavirus is expected to heighten the tensions. Mind Medicine Australia has called on the government to offer MDMA and psilocybin treatment to combat this and provide significant benefits to its citizens.
Substantiated research into the therapeutic benefits of recreational drugs like MDMA and psilocybin have gained medicinal traction in recent years. The FDA expanded access to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a PTSD treatment in January. Meanwhile, Santa Cruz become the third U.S. city to decriminalize magic mushrooms, a drug whose studies have shown possess benefits like overcoming alcohol dependency and lowering violent behavior.
“We would be derelict in our duty as a country if we didn’t take this opportunity to grab hold of this technology, and then see it’s introduced in a way which can potentially provide very significant benefit to many Australians,” stated MMA board member Andrew Robb.
H/T: Mixmag
