Speaker Bio
Brian Barnett, MD is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Clinical Director of the Psychiatric Treatment-Resistance Program at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Barnett completed his psychiatry residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital in 2017. Afterwards, he completed his fellowship in addiction psychiatry at Partners Healthcare in 2018 and a fellowship in forensic psychiatry at University Hospitals/Case Western Reserve University in 2019. Dr. Barnett’s primary research interests are in catatonia, mood disorders, psychedelics, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. He is the principal investigator on clinical trials assessing the efficacy of LSD for generalized anxiety disorder and psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression. Dr. Barnett also writes about mental health and addiction issues for the public, and his writing has been featured in Huffington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and other outlets.
ICPR 2024 Abstract
American psychiatrists’ changing views on psychedelics and their potential therapeutic applications
Theoretical Background and Rationale: As psychedelics progress towards potential regulatory approval as medicines, it is important to understand psychiatrists’ views on the potential therapeutic applications and risks of psychedelics since they are likely to be the primary prescribers of psychedelic medicines.
Research Question and Hypothesis: What are the views of psychiatrists in the United States on psychedelics, and how have those views changed in recent years? We hypothesized that American psychiatrists would have more optimism about therapeutic applications of psychedelics and less concern about risks compared to data collected in 2016.
Methods and Analysis: We emailed an anonymous survey to 1,000 randomly selected American Psychiatric Association members—250 resident-fellows and 750 attending psychiatrists—in early 2016 and again in late 2022 and early 2023. We calculated descriptive statistics and used a non-parametric trend test to compare the current survey responses with those from 2016. We also constructed a multivariate logistic regression model to assess respondent attributes predicting agreement with plans to incorporate psychedelic-assisted therapy into one’s own practice.
Main Findings: Response rate was 13.1%. Respondents were demographically similar to 2016 respondents. Most believed psychedelics show promise in treating psychiatric conditions (80.9%) and supported research into psychedelics’ therapeutic potential for these conditions (93.9%). Comparisons to 2016 showed significantly increased optimism regarding the therapeutic potential of psychedelics and decreased concern about risks, with 50.4% of respondents intending to incorporate psychedelic-assisted therapy into their practice.
Conclusion: These data reveal a substantial positive shift in attitudes toward the therapeutic potential of psychedelics among American psychiatrists from 2016 to 2022/2023.