Microdosing Psychedelics For Chronic Pain

Over the course of the last few years, research in psychedelic space has been demonstrating hopeful treatment options for mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and eating disorders. A notable absent category in this group is chronic pain.

Chronic pain affects over 20% of the US population annually with little to no long-term treatment options available. Chronic pain is often treated with opiates, benzodiazepines, and anti-depressants but long-term pharmaceutical treatment efficacy remains very low. Many chronic pain patients, unfortunately, end up living in permanent disability and suffering as a result.

While psychedelic research in chronic pain is few and in-between, some studies have demonstrated hopeful results for the treatment of intractable phantom pain, cluster headaches, neuropathic pain, complex regional pain syndrome, and fibromyalgia.

As a trauma therapist and certified holistic chronic pain management coach, I often work with individuals who are experiencing both complex and injury-related chronic pain. While chronic pain is very much a real pain experience, the source of the pain is almost always a sign of dysfunction in the brain. Our brains are dynamic learning machines and can essentially learn to fire pain signals even when no pain signal is generated in the limb. Much of the…