The Rise of the Psychedelic-Curious From a Global Mental Health Crisis

Image reproduced with kind permission of Psychedelic & Surreal Artist Harry Pack. View his work at www.harrypackart.com

Part 2

August 2025

By Emma Clarkson

Well, well, well…

In the space of just a few short weeks since the first installment of this series, the wave of news announcements related to policy reform and/or decriminalization of psychedelic medicines has outright snowballed (mushroomed…?), as we increasingly seek them out for self-improvement, healing, and in some cases, our survival.

Let’s take a brief look by region at what has developed in the past weeks, and let’s start with the recent, rather monumental watershed moment that took place in Europe.

In mid July, Germany approved psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression, making it the first country in the EU to legally allow patients to be medically prescribed psilocybin under a special compassionate use program, under Dr Gerhard Gründer.

Two sites working with Canada’s Filament Health are offering this early access therapy while full approvals are still years away. Significantly, patient eligibility is to be decided on by clinicians, rather than regulators, without the need for case-by-case regulatory approval.

Dr Gründer described the announcement as a “landmark moment for the field of psychedelic medicine in the European Union. Treatment-resistant depression affects up to 30% of individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder and remains one of the most difficult psychiatric conditions to treat. Psilocybin has demonstrated significant promise as a novel therapeutic option, and this approval marks an important step toward expanding access for those in urgent need.”

America, you’ve been busy. Here’s a summarized list of a few interesting developments that have taken place nationwide, all pushing for and leading towards similar outcomes:

• A bill was proposed and endorsed by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society to decriminalize state-wide possession of psilocybin.
• Another bill was proposed in Michigan whereby anyone aged over 18 and older with a formal PTSD diagnosis would be legally permitted to possess up to two ounces of psychedelic mushrooms for personal use.
• A new ballot proposed that Alaska could decriminalize natural psychedelics such as psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, and mescaline (excluding peyote). Adults aged 21 and over would be allowed to use, grow, share, and gather these substances. The plan, which is under review with a decision set for 17 August, also outlined licensed healing centers and protections for traditional spiritual or cultural uses.
• 22 states led by Oregon and Colorado are exploring legislation for psychedelic medicine use. Advocates argue that decriminalization is crucial and must go hand-in-hand with medical regulation, with the goal being a harmonized psychedelic landscape, combining FDA-approved access, state-regulated use, personal decriminalization, and spiritual practices.
• Finally, Colorado is considering how to add ibogaine to the state’s expanding psychedelic therapy system.

Just a few days ago, the UK loosened its research rules on psychedelics, agreeing to a major policy shift by supporting the removal of the requirement for research licences to study Schedule 1 drugs like psilocybin and MDMA. This follows years of advocacy and a 2023 report from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommending reforms to reduce research barriers.

While some restrictions remain in place, the UK government has backed a plan to make psychedelic research easier by scrapping the need for a special licence to study such substances.

Additionally, Spain’s High Court of Justice in Madrid upheld an acquittal involving ayahuasca, saying it isn’t classified as an illegal drug under Spanish or international law. Although this ruling applies only to Madrid, it could guide future cases by reinforcing the difference between plant medicines like ayahuasca and pure compounds like DMT. It’s a major step, but not a green light for nationwide legality (yet).

On top of all of the above, Bloomberg reported last week on rumors of an upcoming billion-dollar acquisition of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals by AbbVie, signalling that Big Pharma is keen to cash in on the psychedelic bandwagon. Good thing / bad thing? We’ll come to this later…

Last Monday, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published the results of a 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which found that the use of “hallucinogens” (their term) in the US has been steadily increasing since 2021, driven primarily by adults over the age of 26.

What’s going on, and why now?

It could be said that, along the way, we’ve lost our connection with ourselves and each other / the Universe / Source, and we’re collectively crying out for a fix.

It could be said that during lockdown we spent more time with ourselves, going inwards, without the noise, and are seeking out ways to bring back this peace.

We could suggest that it’s now time to forge a new path, and as such, a new path is being forged for us.

Image reproduced with kind permission of Psychedelic & Surreal Artist Harry Pack. View his work at www.harrypackart.com

Since the 1950s – seven decades no less – anti-depressants and anxiolytics have been the first-line medications prescribed by doctors to sufferers of poor mental health, which today make up around 800 million people around the world. 

But this world today barely resembles that of the 1950s; the problems experienced by humans are often at a deep, spiritual, existential level. Which makes sense. Our house is on fire, for a start. And do we think, feel or behave the way we did in the 50s?

I’m in no way rejecting Western medicine here. A tablet finally offered to me just two years ago for a physical health issue I’ve lived with for decades has changed my life and allowed me to have a normal (*clears throat*) existence, and I’m grateful beyond belief. And traditional medications provided by doctors for those with chronic mental unwellness /imbalance are absolutely vital for millions. It goes without saying that they work well for some sufferers, allowing them to stay functioning and stay alive.

However, my point is that for a growing multitude of humans like myself – the complicated, the open, the empaths, those living with PTSD or CPTSD, those who are a perhaps a little neuro-spicy, those who may have trouble fitting in with the crowd and the world around us – these meds may not always bring the right benefits, or offer an appropriate response. Some of us (and are there more of us, when you look around?) might prefer to remain authentic and feel our feels, process them instead of plastering over our perfectly explainable and understandable symptoms. We want more connection, not less, please. 

In light of the above, this growing multitude is seeking new ways. We’re microdosing, we’re seeking out plant medicines en masse to affect our serotonin levels and improve our mood and wellbeing, we’re attending psychedelic retreats to spend time with our fellow tribe.

These “novel therapeutic options,” as Gründer describes them, while they are in no means novel outside of therapeutic settings, could be said to be more fitting to our present-day mental health needs. They offer a ray of hope.

Image reproduced with kind permission of Psychedelic & Surreal Artist Harry Pack. View his work at www.harrypackart.com

It could be argued that this movement towards the use and decriminilization of psychedelics isn’t just human-led but is part of a larger plan, a plan to bring us back to our true selves.

In Daniel Quinn’s book Ishmael, the narrator, who happens to be a gorilla, explains that the human race lost its path when we stopped being hunter-gatherers who took what we needed from the Earth and nothing more, and “evolved” into a race which exploited and cultivated plants and animals (don’t get me started on the animals). We got greedy and were no longer living in natural balance with the planet. We lost sight of ourselves.

Perhaps, there could be a greater consciousness overlooking this process, this worldwide movement towards psychoactive compounds and looking inwardly for answers. The cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman says that in this limited 3D reality, where humans have limited perception with limited senses, we are simply operating avatars (our human forms). It would be humanly impossible for us in this 3D reality to comprehend true reality, says Hoffman, and no existing modern science manages to successfully explain this True Reality, which is too vast for us to begin to comprehend with our tiny human mind-computers. Who or what is operating True Reality is not for us to understand. Which is just perfect.

Hoffman said in this interview that he’s never tried psychedelics. He instead reaches Source through deep meditative practice. I wish, on one level, that he would, so he could visit these outside realms not part of our human perception that he speaks of, and could see why they offer perspective to people like myself. There’s a far bigger picture, and that brings hope. And connection.

I’m suggesting here that perhaps the consciousness that exists in this True Reality Hoffman speaks of could be assisting or overseeing this plan.

Perhaps, it is telling us that we messed up, we took too much from the planet as per Quinn’s novel, we consumed and consumed so much that our greed has made us sick, and we need a reset. Is that what’s happening? Perhaps this greater intelligence, along with the plants, the medicines, are saying, now is time, enough is enough.

You lost your way guys. Time to come back. Reconnect. Get better.

With thanks to the artist Harry Pack. Donate to his fundraiser here – his paintings and belongings were stolen and his work is great.