Mental Fitness Minute: The use of psychedelics

On March 16, a grassroots committee hosted the Worland Mental Fitness Fair at the Worland Community Center.

Members of the panel were Dr. Ralph Louis, psychologist from Oxbow Center in Basin; Janae Harman, owner of Family Circle Counseling in Worland; Mary Johnson, CEO of Oxbow Center in Worland; and Carol Bell, provisionally licensed therapist at Foundations Counseling in Cody.

The panel answered prepared questions that came from the committee and from similar events in Shell, Greybull and Cowley.

The Northern Wyoming News will be covering the questions on a weekly basis throughout the next several weeks.

What are your opinions about using psychedelics to treat PTSD and end of life issues?

Louis: I am definitely not an expert on this. And I’m not a medical doctor, so I can’t prescribe medications or psychedelics. I do have some experience with clients who have used psychedelics. And I’d say it was a hit or miss. I’ve seen some really bad outcomes, and I’ve seen some good outcomes.

It’s scary to me. My own opinion is it is scary to me, because of the risk I’ve seen with some really bad outcomes. As far as for end-of-life issues, I’ve only read about this. I’ve never experienced people using psychedelics for end-of-life issues. But it seems like a possible help. From what I’ve read about it, it seems like it has been good for some people. But again, like I said, I’m not an expert on this. And I don’t really know the real answers to these questions.

Bell: I’ll just say, like, Ralph, I know very little, but I do have some friends who have tried psychedelic meds for mental health issues. And I will just say it’s not a magic bullet.

So I think I think there’s some real hope that for some, this might offer healing that doesn’t exist anywhere else. But I also think these things come along, and a lot of people feel like, oh, I could just take this really great trip, and then I won’t have to go to therapy for the next five years. And unfortunately, I do think it might speed the process up a little bit for some people, but most of them are still having to do a lot of other work also.

So I don’t think at least in the case of my friends who’ve experienced it, that it’s a magic bullet. And like Ralph, I’m very respectful and fearful about … I don’t think we know enough yet.

Johnson: I think with any mode of treatment or any medication option, the most important thing I would say is to do your research. Not only on the method, but also on your providers that are providing care, you want to make sure that they have the accurate licensure to be able to step into that space and to do it safely. And so whatever treatment works for you, we just want to make sure it’s a safe method of treatment.

Harman: It’s kind of a side note to the psychedelic but lots of people don’t know that there is a clinic in Billings that help people who’ve had treatment and resistant depression. They have a ketamine-assisted therapy. They do a very careful job of screening. So it’s not for everyone. But it is an option for people who’ve tried repetitive, different medications and therapies and it hasn’t helped them. So there is that option and they’ve done a very good job of making sure that they are doing it ethically and safely.

Louis: I’m just going to put an exclamation point on all these comment. I don’t think it’s something you want to try to do on your own, you know, like experiment on your own. If you want to, if you’re interested in doing it, you would definitely want to be under medical supervision with someone who is an expert in doing it. And even then, the outcomes are not really known yet. It’s too early to know for sure.

Next week’s question: When is it typical teenage problems or something more serious?