Healing the mind. Overcoming mental health issues. Living a better, healthier life.
At the end of the day — after all the drug development, decriminalization, and FDA approvals — that’s what psychedelic medicine is all about.
But does it end there? Or do psychedelic medicine’s benefits crossover into other aspects of our lives? Into other industries and healthcare sectors?
From psychedelics to longevity science, innovative new treatment models are gaining mainstream acceptance. And with this healthcare renaissance comes the opportunity for synergies between these complementary sectors, accelerating progress towards the common goal — better health outcomes for everyone.
Natural Synergies: Psychedelics & Longevity Science
Mental health issues go beyond the diagnosed condition. Suffering from anxiety or addiction is indeed a serious burden of its own — yet their effects can ripple through so many other aspects of our lives.
Mental health issues have been linked to a range of other problems. Not only do they cause physical changes in the body (i.e. depression can damage brain cells) but they can also contribute to a range of other physiological problems like chronic stress, poor diet, inactivity, smoking, and addiction — which in turn increases the odds of everything from cardiovascular disease to cancer.
Enter longevity and its potential synergies with psychedelic medicine.
The field of longevity science is growing exponentially, with experts from genetics to AI working on a longevity ecosystem that crosses the borders of many healthcare sectors.
“The longevity paradigm shift has led to the development of an interdisciplinary ecosystem that looks different from traditional healthcare models. It comprises a growing community of life sciences and health care and health tech companies focused on solutions that address underlying drivers of disease and aging.” (from Deloitte’s research note on the longevity industry)
So is psychedelic medicine part of the longevity ecosystem?
With so many factors coming together to dictate how long — and how well — we live, it seems intuitive that healing something as debilitating as severe depression or addiction disorder could have positive spillover effects for our long-term health.
And the data backs this up.
Oxford University studied lifespan risks for issues like mental health problems, alcohol abuse, dementia, and other behavioral disorders. The study covered 1.7 million individuals and over 250,000 deaths — and the review found some staggering numbers.
Life expectancy was reduced considerably for people dealing with the following issues:
- Between 9 and 20 years for bipolar disorder
- 10 to 20 years for schizophrenia
- 9 to 24 years for drug and alcohol abuse
- 7 to 11 years for depression
- 8 to 10 years for smokers.
With research showing that psychedelics are powerful therapies for everything from depression to addiction to Parkinson’s — and with mental health and central nervous system conditions linked to lifespan — there seems to be strong evidence for the synergy between psychedelics and longevity science.
Wonderland Conference expands into longevity and mental health
Microdose’s Wonderland Conference has already established itself as the premier industry event in the psychedelic medicine space. But by being an exclusively “psychedelics” conference — are we missing out on the potential collaborations and innovations with longevity and mental health?
And if these spaces are about helping people, are we missing out on opportunities to improve real-world results for patients?
This is the motivation behind Wonderland expanding beyond a strictly psychedelics-only model — because the conditions we hope to treat and the systems we aim to change are themselves integrated. So integrating the conversation not only helps us reach more people but can help accelerate the move toward better health outcomes.
Connor Haslam, Microdose CEO, couldn’t be happier to see the growth of Wonderland into different areas.
“Psychedelics, mental health, and longevity are inherently tied together, and we’re excited to be expanding the focus of Wonderland to larger aspects of health and well-being. When you’re happier, you want to live longer. Better mental health leads to a longer life — yet what’s the point of a longer life if you’re not living well? Psychedelics can help with all sides of the equation.”
“With the addition of mental health and psychedelics into this year’s Wonderland, we’re taking a deep dive into both of these fields and how they intersect with the world of psychedelics. There’s an almost endless amount of potential crossover between longevity, mental health, and psychedelic medicine — yet these worlds have barely begun to communicate. Our goal is to expand the conversation and show that we’re all part of the same health ecosystem.”
Learn more about the synergies between psychedelics and longevity here.
