Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (PAT) is an important new tool to combat the mental health crisis plaguing our society.

The FDA has given PAT “breakthrough therapy” designation which is reserved for therapies that show extreme promise and substantial improvement in treating serious illnesses above and beyond standard treatments.

Enthea was founded in recognition of the healing potential of PAT offers. We strive to address the inequity and inaccessibility that currently exists with PAT, which keep these treatments from those who so desperately need them.

Read on to learn why PAT is an important tool in treating depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health disorders.

Today’s treatments are lacking. Psychedelic medicine is needed.

Conventional pharmaceutical approaches to mental health treatments have proven to be inadequate for many, even when combined with psychotherapy.

While use of pharmaceutical psychotropic drugs is at an all time high, so too are levels of depression, suicide, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If these medications were the solution they were hoped to be, we would be seeing a notable decline in these conditions, but unfortunately that is not the case.

The statistics alone are staggering:

Major Depressive Disorders (MDD): 8% of US adults are diagnosed with MDD – 30% of whom are considered treatment-resistant. Standard treatments for MDD are antidepressant medication, psychological counseling, or some combination of the two. 50% of all treated depression patients fail initial pharmacotherapy.
Substance Use Disorders (SUD):Almost 9% of the US workforce is currently suffering from a substance use disorder.Despite the high prevalence substance use disorders (SUDs), effective pharmacological treatments are moderately effective at best.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): At present, antidepressant and cognitive-behavioral therapy carry the greatest evidence base for the treatment of PTSD, but neither result in remission of PTSD symptoms in 50% of patients. Incidence in US adults: 2.5%

Innovation in pharmaceuticals all but stopped in the 1990s with the development of SSRIs. Given the clear inadequacy of standard treatments for mental health disorders, Enthea sees a dire need for a paradigm shift in the treatment of mental health.

How psychedelic-assisted therapy works

Psilocybin and MDMA are trending in the press and on social media, energized by the positive research results using gold standard, double-blinded clinical protocols being carried out at universities like Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University.

Based on such research results, the FDA is expected to approve MDMA in 2024 and psilocybin in 2025 to expand PAT treatment options.

In the meantime, therapists have found that the anesthetic ketamine, when administered in low dosages, is more effective as a psychotherapy aid than current treatments.

‍Ketamine Assisted Therapy uses ketamine to enhance and deepen the psychotherapeutic process allowing the patient to get to the root of their traumas, and allowing the use of psychotherapy to amplify and prolong the curative effects of ketamine.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy versus traditional treatments

When compared with current treatments, ketamine and ketamine-assisted therapy shows great improvements:

Depression: Ketamine for the treatment of depression is extremely effective, with ketamine being the only drug known to the suicidal thoughts within 24-72 hours of receiving it.
Substance Use Disorder: There is strong evidence showing the effectiveness of ketamine in treating SUDs. Results of these studies and associated systematic reviews show that ketamine is effective at reducing craving, promoting abstinence, and reducing withdrawal for drugs like cocaine, alcohol, and opioids in those dependent on them.
PTSD: In a study that compared repeated ketamine infusions versus repeated midazolam for the treatment of PTSD, the ketamine group showed significantly greater improvement in PTSD symptoms compared to the midazolam group.

The current lack of access to psychedelic-assisted therapy is a real issue for many needing help, and Enthea is striving to bring a solution.

PAT is being recognized as a breakthrough therapy by the FDA and has shown great promise in the treatment of illness such as depression, PTSD, and substance use disorder with greater success than conventional treatments. Ketamine therapy has provided relief for many, while psilocybin and MDMA are on course for approval by the FDA in the near future.

This new approach to mental health care has the potential to help millions of people who have been struggling with their current treatments. If you’d like to find out more how you or your employer can bring this innovative treatment to your organization, contact an Enthea team member today!