Brno – Psychedelics could help cancer patients cope with depression and anxiety. The influence of substances that temporarily change the usual way of perceiving, thinking and experiencing emotions is investigated by a clinical study of the National Institute of Mental Health (NUDZ) in cooperation with the Masaryk Oncology Institute (MOÚ) in Brno. Experts want to assess the effect of a single dose of psilocybin or ketamine in 60 people by the end of 2026. The study was presented today at the Brno Oncology Days conference by its leader Jiří Horáček.
“Some questions of life and death are very difficult to solve through standard psychological methods. Standard therapy is based on the existence of a person and this certainty. However, if he is seriously ill and does not have certainty, such therapy does not have much of a chance,” said Horáček. He reminded that psychedelics are also effective in the treatment of trauma. “Intoxication of the brain will create the conditions for experiencing the trauma and its integration. In the bed of the drug, a person will create some new concept in which the trauma is embedded and processed into the rest of the psyche,” added the psychiatrist.
According to him, thanks to psychedelics, a person can find meaning even in a situation where he did not see it before. They can thus help people who are burdened by the fear of death caused by oncological disease. The main goal of the clinical study is to evaluate the antidepressant effect of psilocybin in people suffering from depression and to compare it with the effect of ketamine, which has a proven antidepressant effect.
Around 20 patients could participate in the study from MÚ. “It is a very promising intervention that we want to make possible for our patients and at the same time we want to learn it from the most qualified in the Czech Republic,” psychologist Leoš Ševčík told ČTK. Experts from the Brno Institute are interested in introducing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy into practice and outside of study. “The healthcare system is gradually absorbing it, for which I am glad. I think that such know-how and support is unique in Europe. The information from the study can also serve as a basis for negotiations with insurance companies regarding financing,” he added.
Experts are paying more and more attention to the effects of cancer on the psyche. “If there are around 600,000 oncology patients living in the Czech Republic and each of them has several relatives, the disease also affects millions of people. That is why we launched the portal psychooncologywhere those interested can find the necessary information about what a patient and a specialist can do for themselves,” said Martin Pospíchal, chairman of the Psycho-Oncology Section of the Czech Oncology Society ČLS JEP. With information for doctors and nurses, they want to draw attention to the fact that even a specialist may need psychological help, for which, among other things, a free telephone line is used.
According to the doctor from MOÚ Radim Němeček, oncologists are troubled by the fear of making a mistake or of making the wrong decision in a complicated situation. “Of course, communicating serious news is also challenging. The topic of dying is all around us, which also affects the fear of our own death. Sometimes we also have a feeling of our own helplessness when we simply cannot shrink the tumor,” he said. In the past, he sometimes thought that other jobs were complicated too. “However, I think it is important to name the problem. To realize that cancer is an extreme situation, patients know that they will die and we are under pressure with them. It is important to admit to ourselves that we are doing a difficult job. But at the same time, we must not forget on why we do it. We help seriously ill people, it’s work that has meaning,” he added.
CR health psychiatry cancer Brno
Source: www.ceskenoviny.cz
