Researchers from Parc Sanitari SJD call on Congress to regulate the medical use of psychedelics
Professionals from Parc Sanitari SJD who are part of the ANIMA research group participated in the Congress of Deputies event where they also called for the promotion of more clinical trials.
Dr. Rosa Maria Dueñas, researcher at Parc Sanitari SJD and in the ANIMA group, underlined that funding for studies with psychedelics should not depend exclusively on the pharmaceutical industry. In this regard, he urged planning research “to know where we want to go” and stressed that “clinical trials must continue to be conducted, and even observational studies that can help us predict risks”. Dr. Genís Oña, also a researcher with ANIMA, emphasised the existing scientific evidence regarding the use of these substances.
Personalised treatments for mental health problems
The also researcher at the Parc and in the ANIMA group, Dr. Oscar Álvarez, assured that “current pharmacological treatments are insufficient” and defended the need for a more personalized approach. Álvarez went further in his intervention at the Congress and called for “mental health services to treat people in a differentiated way, with individualised treatments, where these drugs could be used”. And to do this, in addition to new treatments, specialised training for professionals is also needed.
Dr. Oscar Soto, also a researcher at the Parc and in the ANIMA group, highlighted that psychedelics are substances that allow “placing the person’s subjective experience at the centre of the treatment”.
High attendance success
Around fifty professionals and people with personal experience in this type of treatment attended the event, and they agreed in calling on the administration to put this debate at the centre, with rigour and responsibility, to create a new regulatory framework. They point out that research with these substances demonstrates their efficacy.
Maria, a fictitious name of one of the people who participated in the studies at Parc Sanitari SJD, shared her testimony at this event. “The two and a half hours of dosing with psychedelics cured me of 22 years of depression.” For Maria these treatments “are a revolution for mental health”.
