A Psychedelic Experience That’s Always Been Legal

“If everyday waking consciousness is but one of several possible ways to construct a world, then perhaps there is value in cultivating a greater amount of what I’ve come to think of as neural diversity. ” - Michael Pollan

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This week sees Australia become the first country in the world to legalise MDMA (the primary psychoactive substance found in ecstasy) and psilocybin from magic mushrooms for therapeutic use. 

The somewhat unexpected decision earlier this year surprised many, including myself, in making Australia global pioneers when it comes to the recognition of psychedelics as a tool to improve wellbeing. 

There are of course some countries, like the Netherlands, where the use of certain psychedelics has been legal for some time, but this is the first time a national government has specifically reclassified these substances. 

While this is certainly progress in the right direction in terms of enabling access to alternative healing modalities, but if you’re thinking this decision means it’s now legal to take psychedelics in Australia, there’s a few very important caveats to note. 

To start with, any use must be facilitated by authorised psychiatrists, and is only allowed for patients that have not responded to other forms of treatment. MDMA is only being prescribed for PTSD and psilocybin is only for depression. Both of them will also require patients to undergo talk therapy too. The whole experience will be known as “psychedelic-assisted therapy”.

This is good news for sufferers of those conditions but we’re still very early days in terms of what this actually looks like in terms of accessibility and application. 

Current estimates indicate a course of psilocybin treatment will cost upwards of $25K, and it’s not at all clear who will be authorised to prescribe or facilitate the treatment (i.e. it’s unlikely your current psychiatrist will be able to, unless they have completed a CPAT). 

Add to that the fact that a session - or ‘journey’ as it is more aptly described - generally takes up to 6-8 hours from start to finish, so booking an appointment won’t exactly be a perfect fit in our existing structure of 1 hour appointments. 

Personally I also have a number of questions when it comes to how sessions will be facilitated, specifically around the setting itself (will it be immersed in nature, or in artificially lit clinical spaces?), what role ceremony (and music) will play, the very real possibility of financial exploitation from pharmaceutical companies, as well as the focus on synthetic instead of natural substances. 

With rates of depression and anxiety accelerating (24% of people suffer from anxiety, 23% from depression and 39% from stress or PTSD) this is great news, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to move quick enough to keep up with demand (as unfortunate as that term is in this context) given the typical timelines associated with research and approval of these substances. 

But what if it was possible to access many of the same benefits as psychedelics, without ingesting anything at all, simply through the breath?

Popularised in recent years by Wim Hof and other thought leaders such as the wildly popular Dr. Andrew Huberman, breathwork is fast becoming the go-to practice for people wanting to reduce depression, release stress, enhance creativity and focus, and transform their overall wellbeing. 

Certain types of breathwork, such as holotropic breathing (developed by Stanislov Grof while studying psychedelics in the mid 50s) have been shown to be capable of producing altered states of consciousness that are similar to psychedelic experiences. 

By increasing the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain, both enable an increase in the connectivity between different regions of the brain, expanding our sense of awareness and enhancing our ability to generate new ideas and perspectives. 

An increasing number of studies indicate that breathwork is effective at reducing stress and anxiety and improving mood, with a recent paper highlighting that breathwork is more effective at increasing positive outcomes than meditation. Another study indicates that breathwork has also shown to be highly effective at enhancing clarity and creativity. 

There has been at least one study directly contrasting breathwork and psychedelic experiences, including this large scale one where over 11,000 psychiatric inpatients practised breathwork as a means to access the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic experiences - with benefits reported by an incredible 82% of participants.

While Australia’s recent decision is a step in the right direction, with our mental health crisis accelerating and our existing medical system buckling under the increased pressure, perhaps it’s time the country’s health administrators also recognise the incredible power of the one thing we all have access to all day, every day, for free: our breath.