Psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT) content analysis: Discourses in United States and Netherlands

Countries like the Netherlands and the United States are considering psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) as a novel treatment for addiction, anxiety, depression, existential distress, and PTSD, especially for patients who have not responded to conventional medicine. The Netherlands' motivations for exploring PAT stem from harm reduction and a desire to lead global research, but face barriers of bureaucracy, public opinion, and funding. In the US, motivations include helping veterans with PTSD, tech billionaire funding, and addressing the nationwide mental health crisis, with barriers including bureaucracy and restrictions on who can access pharmaceuticals. Sexual trauma and military sexual trauma, though part of PTSD diagnostic criteria, are rarely discussed in PAT conversations, perpetuating silence around these topics.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Individuals with addiction, anxiety, depression, existential distress, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have experienced rapid and long-lasting relief of debilitating symptoms after ingestion of psychedelics.After experiencing treatment resistance or dropout, patients experienced success with psychedelics they had not with prescribed medicine.The Netherlands (NL) and the United States (US) are considering psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) as a novel treatment.I analyzed the reasons for this, and they will be described and explained in this thesis.NL has been known for its legislative tolerance toward drugs while the US is known for the anti-drug policies commonly referred to as the War on Drugs.I conducted a qualitative content analysis of texts from NL and the US using open and thematic coding.I found NL's reasons to explore PAT are related to harm reduction and a desire to globally lead research, however, barriers to expansion include bureaucracy, public opinion, and funding.In the US, the primary motivations for PAT are helping veterans with PTSD, tech billionaire funding and addressing the nationwide mental health crisis.In the US, barriers to the expansion of PAT include bureaucracy and limitations on populations deemed legitimate for access to pharmaceuticals.Further, I found that while sexual trauma and military sexual trauma (MST) make up criteria for PTSD and other diagnoses, they are not often discussed in conversations about PAT for PTSD or other diagnoses that PAT may be useful for, contributing to the silence around sex, sexual trauma and military sexual trauma (MST).