Our KEDS project – “Cultivating a shared evidence-based understanding of Psychedelic Science in Ireland by PPI co-created Seminars and Workshops” – will bring together Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) members and peer researchers to co-create and host a series of open international scientific meetings and workshops to raise awareness of the best available evidence and explore the opportunities and challenges in the rapidly progressing field of Psychedelic Science.
Psychedelics, when delivered in a supportive environment and with psychological support are a promising treatment strategy for a range of mental health disorders.
By realising the potential of Psychedelic science to help address some of the individual and societal burden of some mental health disorders, particularly Depression/anxiety and substance use disorders, there is a real chance of providing positive benefits to Irish society.
Psilocybin and MDMA therapies have already been approved as treatments in Australia. This allows authorised psychiatrists to prescribe psilocybin and MDMA to patients diagnosed with treatment resistant depression and treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder, respectively, outside of a clinical trial setting.
It is not yet clear how European and Irish regulators will proceed. The successful and sustained integration of psychedelic therapy into healthcare systems will likely require phase 3 clinical trial evidence, approval by regulators, comprehensive cost-benefit analyses and long-term follow-up data.
Alongside these endeavours, navigating the complex landscape of Psychedelic Science and integration into healthcare systems will require a shared collective understanding across all stakeholders, including the public, policy makers, service users, and healthcare providers.
We anticipate that our PPI co-created KEDS project will help to build a vibrant collaborative ecosystem of knowledge users and eventually all-Ireland PPI networks, to shape the eventual integration of Psychedelic therapy into the public health system for the benefit of patients.