Psychiatric drugs increase the power of the brain – Should everyone use them? – 2024-03-05 14:01:18

Founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud praised the euphoric effects of cocaine. Freud used cocaine, and he also used cocaine to treat his morphine-addicted patients.

Already a hundred years ago, students, soldiers and housewives used, for example, amphetamines and tranquilizers for non-medical purposes.

Opium was used in Finland to treat, among other things, spotted fever, pneumonia, diarrhea and pain already in the 18th century. Sleep juice made from opium has been given to children as an anesthetic and sedative.

During World War II, heroin was one of the most common cough medicines used in Finland, and it was also used for many aches and pains.

The above examples are Aleksi Huplin of the work Intelligence about drugs and intoxicants – utilization of the senses (Bridge).

Hupli, who studied the utilization of psychoactive substances in his dissertation, opens up the history and present day of substances considered as smart drugs in his work.

Faster, more efficient, better: the demands in studying and working life only seem to be increasing. ADOBE STOCK / AOP

Senses in beneficial use

According to Hupl, the view that drugs are always bad and harmful to health and medicines are always good and beneficial to health is a black-and-white simplification of the world of colorful substances.

Hupli does not deny the risks of drugs.

He states that the unfortunately common fatal drug poisonings in Finland are mostly caused by the combined effect of drugs and medicines. In these cases, the most common active substance is buprenorphine used as a replacement therapy drug.

Hupli uses the word tajuste for substances affecting consciousness. Consciousness can be a drug or it can be a drug or an intoxicant.

Hupli denies that he is trying to encourage people to use stimulants, although in the book he also highlights the beneficial aspects of the only drugs classified as narcotics.

The need is only growing

Humans have had a tendency to try to make their brain work more efficiently. It has been made with the power of coffee, tea and various herbs and mushrooms.

Energy drinks and natural products are advertised by implying that they can be used to stimulate brain activity. The word brain booster has been used.

Hupli predicts that increasing cognitive pressures and the increasing demands of work and study will increase the need to increase brain capacity, one way or another.

The book presents a speculation that a significant part of the population could benefit from, for example, drugs that enhance concentration.

According to Huplin, one already existing smart drug is methylphenidate, also known by the trade name Ritalin. Methylphenidate has been used to treat ADHD.

Right or duty?

According to Hupl’s book, students around the world already use a wide variety of senses to succeed in their studies and to support their mental health.

Should an adult person then have the freedom to shape their own cognition in the way they want, also with different substances that affect consciousness?

Wouldn’t it be good if some substances could enhance the functioning of the brain in certain professions? Wouldn’t it just be useful for a police officer or a doctor to be at the peak of their performance with the help of some suitable substance?

If such substances that enhance brain function exist, one can also ask whether it is possible to manage without their help. Could it be frowned upon not to use them?

These are the questions that Huplin thinks are worth asking and thinking about.

The secrets of mushrooms

In his book, Hupli says that the promising research targets of the senses are, among other things, the treatment of severe depression and the treatment of various drug addictions.

According to Hupl, emerging areas of clinical research include the treatment of anxiety disorders, anorexia, Alzheimer’s disease, OCD, and various headaches and other pain.

It should be noted from Hupl that numerous new psychedelic studies have been launched in various parts of the world in recent years. A psychedelic renaissance is underway because of him.

According to Huplin, psilocybin in particular is now the subject of research. Psilocybin is also found in mushrooms growing in Finland.

Hulpi writes that psilocybin has been found to offer “mystical experiences” under supported conditions, and that these experiences have been meaningful and mostly positive for those who experience them.

Jobs used too

Hupli tells the story of many famous people About Steve Jobs Nobel prize-winning researchers who have told that psychedelic and cannabis experiences have been significant for them.

In Hupl’s opinion, utilizing the senses can also mean dealing with trauma, enhancing concentration or pure pleasure.

Psychedelics could perhaps help those suffering from addictions and depression, and that they could enhance creativity, neuroplasticity and well-being.

In Huplin’s opinion, it is not ethically sustainable thinking to claim that a person should have a disease in order to be able to use psychedelics legally.

In 2023, Hupli received a research grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation for research that maps the self-medication use of non-medicinal cannabis.

Hupli was organizing a Finnish psychedelic conference in 2023. According to Hupl, the event was sold out long before the event itself. The conference recordings can be viewed on Psychedelic Research’s YouTube channel.

Half of the microdoses

Trying psychedelics on your own can be quite a risk.

Even if psychedelics are used in very small, so-called microdoses, side effects can occur. For example, anxiety and insomnia may increase.

It is also possible that, for example, the use of psychedelics, even in continuous microdoses, increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, for example.

Regarding microdoses, there may also be a placebo effect. If a person firmly believes that he can have an effect, he can also feel that he has received help.

It is possible that due to commercial interests, the effectiveness of psychedelics is also exaggerated and that incorrect information is given about their use and safety.