Psychiatrists Outline Ethical Considerations Related to Psychedelics

“As psychedelic therapies gain increasing prominence, it is vital that psychiatrists remain mindful of unique ethical and practical challenges surrounding their use in clinical settings,” wrote Gregory Barber, M.D., a psychiatrist in private practice in Bethesda, Md., and Charles Dike, M.D., M.P .H., chair of the APA Ethics Committee, in areview article appearing inPsychiatric Services in Advance. Dike is also an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.Contemporary research on psychedelics for the treatment of mental illness is focused primarily on psilocybin, found in a type of mushroom, and MDMA, a synthetic amphetamine derivative in the subgroup of psychedelics called empathogens. Barber and Dike underscored several ethical issues that psychiatrists may face regarding psychedelic therapies in clinical practice:Research equipoise amid high enthusiasm for psychedelics:Psychedelic therapies are in a relatively early stage of research. Research equipoise requires that researchers and clinicians must not decide what is true before the science informs their decision.Informed consent:Distinctive features of psychedelic psychotherapies may require what some have called “enhanced consent.” The goal of “enhanced consent” is to ensure that patients have a thorough understanding of psychedelic therapies. “These principles of consent apply in current research settings but would also be relevant in general clinical practice if psychedelics w...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: access Charles Dike equity ethical considerations Gregory Barber informed consent off-label use patient vulnerabilty psychedelics Psychiatric Services Source Type: research