Mindblowing Therapy? [Scientific tv show on psychedelic therapy]

[Reverend Random]

Hi guys,

Thought you might be interested in the following. Since today marks the 70th anniversary of Albert Hofmann's accidental discovery of the psychoactive effects of LSD-25, I thought this would be an appropriate moment to share the next video with you, which has just been subtitled in English. In October 2012, Dutch OPEN Foundation hosted a big international conference on psychedelic research, which TV program 'Labyrint' used to air an episode on psychedelic therapy.

Will we be using 'magic mushrooms' to fight depression? Or go to the pharmacy to get an LSD treatment to cure your smoking addiction? On December 19 2012, Dutch Labyrint TV screened an episode about ground breaking research using psychedelics in psychiatric treatment. Interviews with the scientists were filmed at OPEN's Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research in 2012.

Scientists who are interviewed:

• Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD -- psychopharmacologist
• Matthew Johnson, PhD -- psychopharmacologist
• Ben Sessa, PhD -- psychiatrist

Enjoy.

 

[kidklmx]

I love how open some shows are on dutch tv, especially shows from the VPRO and such (tegenlicht, labyrinth, etc.)

Did you go to ICPR, Reverend Random?

 

[Reverend Random]

Yup, I definitely went there. Did you attend too? What did you think?

And yes, VPRO rocks. Last Labyrint episode was a full on criticism of the DSM-V - very interesting stuff. And the episode I posted above is something I'm really quite proud of. Balanced episode on the advances and possible therapeutic applications of psychedelics. Great to know that over 100.000 people watched this. :D

 

[kidklmx]

I wanted to go (psychedelic psychotherapy is of great interest to me), but the funding just wasn't there for me at the time... So I'll fire that question back at ya, what did you think on the conference?

And I'm watching that episode as we speak, sounds interesting (I hardly ever watch television, because, well I don't think that needs explaining)

 

[Reverend Random]

I thought it was excellent, but I have to admit I'm a bit biased. What made the conference stand out for me, was the fact that it was purely science based. Many conferences on psychedelic research also dedicate a portion of the programme to psychedelic culture, which in my opinion confuses the image for the general public. If you want to mainstream research into psychedelics - which is one of the primary goals of the OPEN Foundation - you have to disassociate from 'classic notions on psychedelics' (i.e. fractals, dreadlocks, hippies, people blabbering about what happened when they last took acid) in order to convince researchers that psychedelics are interesting from a purely scientific or therapeutic point of view. And I think the conference managed that quite well.

By the way, videos of the lectures can be watched through the OPEN Videotheque. Most lectures haven't been uploaded yet, but will soon be available online as well.

 

[Reverend Random]

No other comments? I found Ben Sessa's descriptions (starting at around 07:50) on how it felt to be injected with psilocybin inside the fMRI scanner particularly hilarious.