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Psychedelic treatments are speeding towards approval — but no one knows how they work

Many questions remain about the formerly taboo chemicals that are being used to treat trauma and depression.
  1. Sara Reardon

    1. Sara Reardon is a freelance journalist based in Bozeman, Montana.

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Conceptual illustration showing an abstract brain.

Illustration by Kasia Bojanowska

Psychedelic drugs have been undergoing a major makeover in psychiatry, earning mainstream acceptance that has eluded them for decades. In 2019, a variant of ketamine — an animal tranquillizer well known as a club drug — was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In May, Oregon opened its first treatment centre for administering psilocybin — the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms — following the state’s decision to legalize it (psilocybin remains illegal at the federal level). And, after decades of effort, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a non-profit research organization in San Jose, California, formally asked the FDA for approval to market MDMA — also known as molly or ecstasy — as a treatment for PTSD.

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Nature 623, 22-24 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03334-6

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