In this week's episode of Mayim Bialik's Breakdown, Mayim and Jonathan welcome back Dr. Rick Doblin — founder and president of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies — for a conversation about the most significant shift in psychedelic research in half a century. One in six Americans is on an SSRI. The opioid crisis is still unfolding. Psychedelics have the potential to address both — and much more. But can we keep their regulation out of the wrong hands?
The popularity of psychedelics thrived in the 1960s and 1970s and, in many circles, was synonymous with the radical and anti-establishment politics surrounding the Vietnam War and the civil rights movements. President Nixon criminalized all psychedelics, including those that held the promise of significant treatments for a variety of mental health conditions. Because of this criminalization, critical psychedelic research went underground for decades. Recently, President Trump’s executive order has fast-tracked FDA research, but who controls the parameters of this research and whether profit or healing will take precedence remain to be seen.
It’s estimated that there may be 10,000 psychedelic clinics across America in the not-too-distant future. What does that mean for the future of mental health as we know it?
In this episode, they also explore:
