Gwyneth Paltrow proposes to treat anxiety and depression with psychotropics (and you can't)

The first episode of the documentary series dedicated to the universe of new age therapies of Gwyneth Paltrow arrived with controversy: Gwyneth, with the approval of Netflix, checks the use of psychedelic substances (specifically the psilocybin and the MDMA) to treat mental disorders, from posttraumatic stress to depression and anxiety.

Is it a new eccentricity of the woman who sells candles on her web that smell her genitals? Or do they have any scientific validity what the testimonies that appear in The Goop Lab? Part of these testimonies are carried out by representatives of an organization that knows a lot about these drugs: MAPS. “This organization has been funded for some time to test the application of a MDMA assisted psychotherapy ("Ecstasy") in Post-traumatic Stress Disorders resistant to other treatments – explains the Dr. Luis Caballero Martínez. Head of the Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology Service of the HM Hospitals Group-. But as far as I know, no approval has been derived in this regard. To be drugs of abuse and with a potential risk its eventual approval by the regulatory agencies (if it were finally produced) would be subject to strict requirements and controls ”.

The therapeutic use of psychotropics is not a novelty

As much as you may miss us, nor Gwyneth Paltrow He has found a strange and hidden therapy or the use of these substances is a subject that science has eluded and kept secret. In fact, in the twentieth century there was a great interest in the use of psychedelic drugs for psychiatric treatment, but the poor results and the subsequent approval of the Substance Act of 1970 in the US significantly limited the progress of these investigations and, consequently, their results.

Psychotropic they are agonists of different brain neurotransmission systems, that is, they affect our central nervous system and produce a release of the glutamate neurotransmitter (among other actions). The result? He who consumes them perceives temporary changes in perception, the mood, the state of consciousness and behavior.

“The potential of these substances to treat certain mental ailments has led to the american FDA has approved the study of some psychedelics in therapeutic means but, to date, these studies have not been derived no authorization”, Says dr. Luis Caballero Martínez.

Now, interest in the therapeutic psychedelic research It has been reborn. An example of this is the review of studies conducted by researchers from the Department of Psychiatry of the Washington School of Medicine which analyzes the use of psychedelic medications such as psilocybin, the LSD, the MDMA and the ayahuasca, in the treatment of various psychiatric diseases, including treatment-resistant depression, posttraumatic stress, anxiety and substance use disorders.

His conclusion? That the research accumulated to date suggests that there is a possibility that psychedelics may arise that can be used in therapies for psychiatric conditions that do not respond to conventional treatments. However, for now, given the high potential for misuse, it also recommended caution and further investigation. “We must clarify that we talk about short psychotherapies assisted by psychedelics, not the regular, prolonged or indiscriminate taking of psychedelics as drugs. ”, says the expert.

Not everything goes as psychotropic therapy

It is in the form and not in the data that the Gwyneth Paltrow documentary fails. With the premise (certain) that there is a renewed interest in the investigation of these substances To combat mental illnesses that are resistant to everything else, situations that we could define as exotic are on the screen of our television.

Like when you send your personal assistant and a group of volunteers from the Goop team to Jamaica to have a therapeutic experience having tea from psychotropic mushrooms in a "therapeutic environment" in which therapists also have a psychotropic mushroom tea. "When you talk about "Therapeutic environment" you have to ask who offers it and how it guarantees it, because under that heading it is not uncommon for unconventional practices to be offered, without guarantees and even illegal”, Says dr. Luis Caballero Martínez.

Let's not fool ourselves, therefore, from what we see on Netflix: if the use of psychotropics is ever approved for depression or anxiety treatment it will not be to consume them on our own in a cabin in the middle of the rainforest lying on a carpet on the floor. That is not a therapy, it is a television show.