6.1.3 Subjective effects of psychedelics
There remains ongoing debate concerning the necessity for the
hallucinogenic effects of psychedelics, with arguments both for and
against their importance.126,127 There is a suggestion
that in both, at least, treatment-resistant depression and tobacco use
disorder, the subjective components and quality of the acute psychedelic
experience may be important for therapeutic
efficacy,128 while there remains some preliminary data
in OUD this may be the case. Conversely, for cluster and migraine
headaches, the acute subjective psychedelic effects may be independent
from their clinical effects.129 These studies were
dovetailed by recent healthy human laboratory data, putting into
question the therapeutic relevance of hallucinogenic effects for
analgesia.67 Measurement and investigation into the
importance of hallucinogenic and subjective effects remains crucial to
further our understanding of this phenomenon (and supposed “biological
effects” from the “psychological effects”) and the viability of
sub-psychedelic dosing/microdosing paradigms and active control groups
that receive low or blinding doses of psychedelics in some studies,
which may have some effect on outcomes.