In 1954, an article in Time Magazine entitled “Dream Stuff” claimed LSD 25 could be a “great benefit to mental patients.” In fact, references to psychedelics in the medical space were rising across mass media in the ‘50s and ‘60s as clinicians began the initial phase of therapeutic research, particularly on neurosis and alcoholism. But as the harms of illegal usage became apparent, the perception of psychedelics changed radically in the decades that followed. 

John Spollen, M.D., a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, will discuss the reawakening of psychedelic research since 2010 including his clinical studies with veterans and share the psychiatric indications for the potential use of ketamine, MDMA and psilocybin in an upcoming Honors College Mic lecture, “Dangerous Drugs of Abuse or Reasonable Treatments for Serious Problems?” The lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 29, in Gearhart Hall Auditorium (GEAR 26) at 5:15 p.m. 

“I’ve been working at the Little Rock VA for 25 years, and ketamine for depression is the most impactful new psychiatric treatment I have seen,” Spollen said. “People routinely tell me it has been life-changing for them.  It doesn't work for everyone, but for those that it does it is usually a dramatic difference.”

Spollen founded the Ketamine Program for treatment-resistant depression at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in 2019. Treatment-resistant depression, a form of major depressive disorder that does not respond to at least two antidepressants of adequate dose and duration, is a serious, life-threatening condition with elevated rates of suicide, hospitalization and impairment in daily functioning. While the FDA has warned patients and health care providers about potential risks associated with at-home use of compounded ketamine products, including oral formulations, intravenous ketamine and the FDA-approved intranasal esketamine can be safely used when closely monitored.  Spollen says that when administered responsibly under a physician’s care, ketamine has been shown to be a “rapidly acting, often in just one to two weeks” treatment for depression and suicidal thoughts for people that standard antidepressant medications haven't helped.

During his time at the VA, Spollen did have patients who were surprised to learn about the program, but “most of them wanted to give it try because they felt so miserable for so long,” he shared. 

Each psychedelic class works “very differently,” and their use in psychiatric treatment also varies significantly. For example, ketamine is given like a medication and is used for severe depression, while MDMA is being used to facilitate psychotherapy for PTSD, Spollen said. In addition to reviewing the history of psychedelics and recent studies on ketamine, MDMA and psilocybin, Spollen will also postulate the possible impacts on psychiatry if these substances were to be approved for treatment beyond current clinical studies.

“As an advocate for psychedelics in the 60s, Harvard professor Timonthy Leary’s dictum ‘turn on, tune in, drop out’ horrified an older generation,” said Lynda Coon, dean of the Honors College. “Then-President Richard Nixon went as far to call Leary ‘the most dangerous man in America.’ Spollen’s research into the opportunities and dangers of psychedelics help us understand its fraught history’s reemergence and positive incorporation into American medicine.” 

ABOUT JOHN SPOLLEN

John Spollen received his M.D. degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and then completed a residency in psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. He has been on the faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, seeing patients at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, since 1999 and was the vice chair for education for the Department of Psychiatry for 20 years. In January 2023, he moved to Fayetteville to take over as the associate dean for the College of Medicine's Northwest campus where he oversees the education of their 80 medical students. 

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