Would you try a psychedelic drug to curve depression?

[Jackalope]

His psychiatrist recently prescribed him quetiapine for the insomnia, but if it turns him into a zombie, I feel like I have to interfere.

If his experience is anything like mine, you'll have to.

I'll also throw in that it is frightening to me how frequently it's prescribed for off-label use. The side effects can be terrible. Somehow that's better than the possibility of addiction.

[Angrboda]

There are generally speaking six or seven main factors involved in assessing whether a person would take a medication and remain compliant on that medication. In no particular order these are: the degree of distress the symptoms being treated cause the person; how much one values whatever symptom relief is provided by the medication; how much one values the absence of whatever specific side effects the medication presents; which side effects are caused by the medication; what degree of symptom relief one obtains from the medication; overall health and wellness of the individual (people in a lot of distress may be more tolerant of side effects than someone experiencing few distressing complaints); general character traits affecting compliance with medication regiments in general; and contingent events related to a specific medication intervention (transitional side effects, poor timing relevant to life stressors, and so on). Given the broad and variegated nature of these factors, it's probably hopeless to try to generalize whether or not a class of drug with a specific side effect profile would or would not be well tolerated in a general patient population. Probably the only overall statement I think one could reasonably make is, if the hallucinatory or other mind altering properties of the psychedelic caused additional dysfunction or distress that is even remotely comparable to the distress or dysfunction of the original, presenting problem, historically such medications have not been very effective drug interventions as the relative presence of equally disturbing complaints tends to lead to uniformly low compliance in taking such drugs. But again, it's all relative. I was once on a drug which relieved my depression successfully, and I felt genuinely 'good' while on the medication. The side effects of the medication caused significant gross and fine motor control problems to the point that I experienced falls several times a day, and it could take several attempts for me to successfully sit down in a chair without falling. All in all, if the drug had continued to provide relief from my chronic depression, I would have likely remained on it despite all the side effects, and just learned ways of coping with them so I didn't fall as much.

[Rev. Rye]

Stuff like this isn't exactly new; Hell, trials in Israel claimed that Ecstasy can help with symptoms of PTSD. All I can say is, if it really works, why not try it. It would be a good excuse for legalisation of drugs. Of course, it hasn't gone too well for medicinal marijuana.

[BrokenQuill92]

No I'm on too much crap to begin with

[The Valkyrie]

Unsure to be quite frank.

I'm not one for taking medication unnecessarily, and I don't do drugs, so I'm uncertain if I'd take psychedelics, even when I do suffer from a depression (which has, honestly, nearly killed me in the past).

[FlyingNarwhal]

I have heard of using acid to treat alcoholism, which makes sense to me because you do face problems sometimes when you trip in very profound ways. But your trip also depends on your state of mind and mood. If your in a good place, you'll have a good trip. If your in a bad place though, things can get pretty bad. I have depression and I've tripped before while being very depressed and it fucked with me hard. It ended up helping me out because I had to face a lot of faults, but it magnified my depression for a few months after the trip. I started getting panic attacks for the first time ever during those times and if it wasn't for my fraternity I would have locked myself in my dorm and probably killed myself. But the after effects have been real good. Kind of had a complete change with my thinking process, which turned my life around for the better and has made me happier. It's could probably be very effective, but I don't think it would be safe for everyone.