Exploring the Connection Between End of Life, Depression, Anxiety, and Psilocybin

Art by David Spear

I started as a Humanistic-Existential therapist; trained and mentored by some of the best therapists (and now friends) the profession has ever seen. When it comes to depth psychology my experience learning about depth was always countered with Evidence Based Practice (EBP) and in turn were constantly presented grueling 200 slide PowerPoint presentations left and right in graduate school as to why EBP is superior. From the moment that the first 10 slides went across the screen I thought that this approach grossly underestimated and discounted what it means to be human. Keeping in mind with depth psychology that individual experience and expertise, you know your story better than anybody else. EBP folks will then present to you mountains of cold clinical data on why their theory is supreme, akin to stereo instructions on how to get your surround system going. But what is talking under the surface? What informs us of us through the process?

The depth is where we dwell; interpersonally and otherwise. In modern western culture we want something that will cure us in the moment for all time, just turn on primetime television and witness the barrage of pharmaceutical commercials (even drugs that help the effectiveness of another). Instant gratification, that's what we are after in every aspect of our existence.

By and large, we don't like to feel and experience; we only want the ultimate answer and relief but understanding these undercurrents is the way forward. The Navajo culture has a quote: "the strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun." Even though we try to hide ourselves from ourselves, the wind will still come and rip the roof off our dwelling, no matter what condition our physical body is in. We must also consider nature and keep in mind the network of mycelium within the oak tree root system that keep the old oak tree informed of what was going on below and above it; a greater power than the indivisual to keep it aware of weather, moisture, changes in the environment, and most importantly the tree itself.

When it comes to end of life and ultimately death, overwhelmingly we grasp at anything to make the experience better. Like the old oak tree in a storm, we have to look to sources outside ourselves to find something that can inform us. Empirical studies have started looking at reducing depression and anxiety in individuals with cancer through the use of psilocybin as we have written about before. In this instance, the control group used niacin and the experimental psilocybin and researchers were able to demonstrate, despite n=29, psilocybin helping with the patient's depressive and anxiety symptoms during end of life with cancer. Although further research is needed (AS ALWAYS), this is another empirical journal that demonstrates the effectiveness of psilocybin with aspects of our lives and mental health (anxiety and depression) that we seemingly (and understandably) lose some control over when dealing with an illness and end of life.