Tag: ptsd

Contemporary art collage. Human hands knitting brain.

Want to Change Minds About Psychedelics? Start with PTSD

Vincent Joralemon Leave a comment

By Vincent Joralemon

Psychedelics have a public relations problem, due in part to overzealous promoters, genuine risks, and bad science. But, recent psychedelic legislation sponsored by conservative congressperson Dan Crenshaw shows minds can be changed in this space.

Public perceptions will shape efforts to reclassify, decriminalize, and make psychedelics available for therapeutic use. The most effective way to change peoples’ opinions is to highlight the success stories of those who have tried psychedelics. And, as Crenshaw’s story shows, psychedelic-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a compelling application for precisely those who harbor the most skepticism towards these drugs.

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DUQUE DE CAXIAS,(BRAZIL),MAY,20,2020: doctors take care of patients with covid-19 and an intensive care unit (ICU) at hospital são josé specialized in the treatment of covid-19.

From Pain to Progress: Nursing After the Pandemic

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Victoria L. Tiase and William M. Sage

America’s nurses are a powerful force for good — four million strong, universally trusted, increasingly diverse, serving every community across the country, with an overall economic impact greater than the total output of the median American state. However, the pain of pandemic nursing is real and widespread. Urgent attention to nursing’s vulnerabilities is required for the profession to help the U.S. emerge from the confluence of the worst public health crisis in over a century and the most severe economic decline since the Great Depression.

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hospital equipment

How COVID-19 Has Widened the Experience-Complexity Gap in Nursing

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Julie Miller

I am a Clinical Practice Specialist for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN), and I have noticed the experience-complexity gap widening during the pandemic. As increasing numbers of nurses retire due to the stress of serving on the front lines, novice nurses are tasked with complex caseloads.

Hospital-based educators tell me they do not have enough experienced nurses to oversee and mentor the novice nurses due to attrition, as experienced nurses are taking advantage of high paying travel contracts, or are leaving the ICU/PCU specialty due to burnout, moral injury, and post-traumatic stress.

Post-pandemic, the experience-complexity gap for progressive and critical care nurses will continue to widen and affect intensive care unit (ICU) and progressive care unit (PCU) orientation and ongoing education.

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LOMBARDIA, ITALY - FEBRUARY 26, 2020: Empty hospital field tent for the first AID, a mobile medical unit of red cross for patient with Corona Virus. Camp room for people infected with an epidemic.

The Fourth Wave of COVID-19: The Effects of Trauma on Health Care Workers

Stephen Wood Leave a comment

This post is the introduction to our newest digital symposium, In Their Own Words: COVID-19 and the Future of the Health Care Workforce. All contributions to the symposium will be available here.

By Stephen Wood

On this day one year ago, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom declared COVID-19 a pandemic, sounding the alarm about the international threat posed by the virus.

Today, one year later, I fear the end is not in sight. In fact, I believe that we are on the precipice of a fourth wave.

The fourth wave will strike the people on the frontlines of this pandemic — health care workers. It will be the effects of the trauma that health care workers entrenched in this pandemic have faced. And it is likely to have significant and lasting effects on our health care system.

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Washington, DC – October 16, 2020: One of the many official ballot boxes placed around the city for early voters to place their completed ballots to avoid lines due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Psychedelics Helped Me Reclaim My Life and Push to Change Drug Laws

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Melissa Lavasani

In December 2019, I proposed a ballot measure, now known as Initiative 81, which would effectively decriminalize natural psychedelics – including psilocybin and ayahuasca, which had helped me overcome postpartum depression – in the District of Columbia.

This would help ensure that other D.C. residents benefiting from natural psychedelics are not targeted by law enforcement. After tumultuous months of hard work including collecting more than 25,400 signatures from voters, Initiative 81 is on the November ballot.

I am not the usual protagonist you’d imagine as an advocate for psychedelics: I am a married mother of two with two graduate degrees and an established career working for the District of Columbia government. But I had a psychedelic experience that changed my life. In 2018, I had taken psychedelics – first psilocybin mushrooms, and then ayahuasca and San Pedro cacti – because I was desperate to overcome severe postpartum depression that came to dominate my life.

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man lying on couch.

Psychedelics and America: A Digital Symposium

Mason Marks Leave a comment

By Mason Marks

In 2020, the psychedelics research and policy reform renaissance is in full swing. Prohibited by federal law since the 1970s, psychedelic substances can alter how people see themselves, the world, and those around them. Clinical trials suggest they may help people overcome ingrained thought patterns associated with depression, anxiety, and addiction.

Acknowledging their spiritual and therapeutic potential, universities have established new psychedelics research programs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed them breakthrough therapies for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. This designation means they could be significant improvements over traditional treatments such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Accordingly, the FDA has put some psychedelics on an accelerated course toward approval. Eventually, they could help millions who have not benefitted from existing therapies.

However, despite their breakthrough status, psychedelics will not become FDA approved for several years. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic is making the country’s mental health crisis worse. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicidal thoughts have risen in the past nine months.

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