Psychedelics are unique pharmacological compounds that hold the promise of a profound paradigm shift in psychiatry.
Amanda Feilding has dedicated her life to the study of the mechanisms underlying the exceptional changes in consciousness, such as those brought about by psychedelic compounds or other mind-altering practices like meditation.
Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation
In 1998, Amanda Feilding set up the Beckley Foundation, a non-profit organisation that initiates and supports pioneering research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelic-assisted therapy, while at the same time creating a scientific evidence base for global drug policy reform.
The psychedelic renaissance: Healing a mental health crisis
Humanity is facing an ever-worsening mental health epidemic. Everywhere, rates of anxiety, depression, and addiction are on the rise, exerting a vast personal and economic toll. Psychiatry is largely ill-equipped to remedy this situation, and there is an urgent need for novel therapies and treatments.
Psychedelic-assisted therapies, which have been shown to be safe and highly effective for a variety of indications such as depression, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and end-of-life existential distress, with both immediate and long-lasting effects, are the perfect candidate for a long overdue breakthrough in mental health.
Embracing a new era: Public letter requesting the rescheduling of psilocybin
After having won the support of leading world figures, including former Presidents, Nobel Laureates, and key notables from the worlds of politics, science and the arts, for the Beckley Foundation’s 2011 Public Letter, which called on governments and parliaments to abandon the ‘War on Drugs’ and to embrace drug policy reform based on scientific evidence, Amanda Feilding is now planning to address the UK Prime Minister and Minister of Health in an Open Letter, urging them to move psilocybin to Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971).
Ground-breaking psychedelic therapies have started a paradigm shift in the treatment of mental health, and Amanda Feilding will continue her ongoing efforts to reschedule psychedelics and accelerate their research, in order to open clinics where such treatment can be provided for those in need.
This is a truly exciting time for psychedelic research, and there is a desperate need to support it.
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