Can psychedelic medicine address women’s issues? Can they help with mental and physical challenges related to PMS, menopause, and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD)?
Friday’s morning session at Plant Medicine Week in Malta tried to address these questions. The insightful panel included the following speakers:
Anne Philippi. Former author at Vanity Fair, GQ, VOGUE and Silicon Valley correspondent. Now Founder & CEO of The New Health Club, a platform for neural awareness & the re-introduction of psychedelics into society and in the workspace.
Margot Stern, Chief Strategy Officer of ReaGenics. Margot is an entrepreneur, strategic thinker and visionary with over 15 years of experience in private equity, consulting and advising companies on global strategic management, growth plans, and strategy.
Maryam Marissen, founder, TruMIND. Maryam has advocated for the potential of medically-supervised psychedelic therapies for mental health disorders, and increasing access to those who need them most.
Kelsey Ramsden, former CEO, Mindcure. Kelsey has over 15 years of experience founding, scaling, and operating innovative companies across Canada and the Caribbean. She has built multiple 8-figure businesses from the ground up and has twice been named Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneur.
Some quotes and highlights from the panel:
Maryam Marissen: “I think you just have to look at the stats. Women are two times more likely to be diagnosed with depression, two times more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders, two times more likely to suffer from PTSD. And I think that really changes the paradigm in terms of how these therapies will need to be rolled out and how they’re going to be formulated for key indications that are more dominant in the female population.”
“There are certain indications that are more hormonally induced and that have the mental health component, either as a symptom or as a leading cause, and I think connecting the dots between the mind and body as it relates to female health and what the future protocols and programs will be, is a huge piece in terms of the research…”
Kelly Ramsden: “Female-focused research is increasing, but I also think it’s important to highlight how we identify the commercialization opportunities for these drugs and the way that we think about rolling those out from a capital perspective. How do we deploy it in a way that fits into the typical woman’s lifestyle and responsibilities is something that can often be a little bit different than with our counterpart gender.”
“How much time women can take off and the availability for them, oftentimes being the primary homemaker or caregiver. Can they go for 12 sessions in a separate location? Do we have to find ways to do this in a localized environment? So there are a lot of different considerations for women, but I think there’s a lot of hope because the research is underway and people are being really thoughtful about it and how we can be deliberate about delivering women’s health care for women.
These were just some of the important insights delivered by this thoughtful and progressive panel. Psychedelics can have a potentially positive impact on women’s health, let’s hope the industry continues to give this subject the attention it deserves (from our end, Microdose will continue its part).