Parents experience a heightened amount of stress, particularly after welcoming home a first child. Incidents of postpartum are frequent among parents. The pressure of parenting can also lead to increased isolation and difficulty finding time to care for oneself, including seeking therapy services.
Some individuals have to come off of medications just to safely get pregnant and are white-knuckling it thereafter. The changes from hormones also take a long time to settle, and it can be a roller coaster guide. Hormonal and mood changes can actually happen for any parent, not just the one who may have given birth. Then you add in difficulties with sleep, physical recovery, needing practical support, and trying to bond…
Reasons people seek alternative medicine options.
There are many reasons that folks seek alternatives to what is commonly available in our medical care. Although anti-depressants can be helpful, for some they are not effective or cause challenging side effects. A parent may also worry about what they are putting in their body, not only during pregnancy but also while breastfeeding.
Postpartum depression And Psychedelics
Women with PPD can present with pervasive low mood, impaired sleep, appetite, and concentration, feelings of inadequacy or guilt, and a sense of detachment from the infant. Suicidal ideation is common.
Psychedelics induce altered states of consciousness and in a dose-dependent manner, elicit mystical-type experiences, feelings of ‘oneness’ or interconnectedness, feelings of sacredness, transcendence of space and time, and a strong positive mood . A core feature of the mystical-type experience is a sense of unity, an experience of becoming one with all that exists .
Mystical-type experiences are associated with enduring improvements in depression and anxiety outcome measures in psilocybin trials and are thought to mediate these positive effects.
Along with this sense of unity and spirituality, a number of themes that emerge from qualitative studies of psychedelic experiences in participants with mental ill-health bear relevance to PPD. Acquiring insights into oneself, heightened self-awareness and a greater insight into one’s relationship with others are commonly cited by participants with anxiety and depression.
LSD
In addition to enhancing the experience of connectedness, LSD is associated with an increase in oxytocin levels in healthy participants, thought to be mediated through 5-HT2AR agonism .
Psylocibin
Psilocybin, with a favourable safety profile and propensity to promote openness, acceptance, and ‘connectedness’, in addition to positive effects on mood, may be a useful adjunct in the treatment of PPD.
Ketamine
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy already has promising results for the treatment of acute suicidality, persistent depression, support with trauma work, and pervasive anxiety. Even if folks cannot access KAP, ketamine treatment (medicine only) may still be a possible option to explore
Research shows that ketamine clears the body quickly, offering the potential that individuals who are breastfeeding may be able to benefit from this option even if they are lactating.
Maternal loss of connection, a core feature of PPD, can lead to a deep sense of isolation, lack of self-compassion and low mood, all of which can affect maternal sensitivity and infant development and mental health in later life.
Restoration of the mother’s connection with herself and her infant, along with an increased sense of acceptance, can help encourage self-compassion and address maladaptive beliefs about motherhood. Psychedelic-assisted therapy act as a ‘container’ for this process of ‘reconnection’ to occur safely.
Can Microdosing Improve Parenting?
A growing body of research shows psilocybin benefits people suffering from depression, anxiety, and PTSD. We know that priorities and pace shift under the influence of psilocybin: take a heroic dose, and you may enjoy an altered sense of reality, see faces in trees, and have a mystical awakening. But what about microdosing? Can microdosing change our perception enough to be effective? And what changes in perception are microdosing moms chasing? Those changes are “no mental fog, more calm, and more creativity.”
When most think of mushrooms, they think of artists or rebellious college students searching for truth or enhanced creativity (or just a goofy, good time), but the effects microdosing has on mothering may be the most profound of all.
