Psychedelics and Sports
Psychedelics currently play an enormous role in the treatment of mental disorders including depression, post-traumatic stress, and addiction. Get ready for their role in sports.
The ability to transport your mind outside of yourself and see yourself in a new way is the fundamental mechanism of psychedelic therapy. Best applied in the optimal set and setting with professional guidance, it has helped move the most recalcitrant problems toward successful outcomes.
Once a therapy is used successfully in one arena, it often morphs into more widespread use for similar issues. Sports and sports performance are early adopters of any advance that might give a competitive edge. Here is where psychedelics will play various roles.
Post-defeat depression. The usually down feeling after a failed sports performance is normal and one of life’s key lessons. Getting back on the horse, firing up for the next game, and learning from one’s mistakes are the universal encouragements used by coaches to assuage sadness and self-blame after a failed effort. Yet sometimes the guidance doesn’t work. Many athletes’ careers have been ended prematurely due to the depression following a major loss. This prolonged depression is probably not very different from the depressions being addressed today in doctors’ offices and hospitals. Some psychedelics, like MDMA and psilocybin, show excellent clinical results for treating serious levels of depression1,2. Will micro doses be used for more routine experiences?
Post-retirement blues are universal. Will I have a purpose? Will anyone still pay attention to me? How can I see myself as more than just a former athlete? Even small courses of psychedelic therapy may be effective in helping redefine oneself and reshape one’s identity.
Post-traumatic fear is ubiquitous in sports that involve high levels of physical danger. Injuries small and large play with the mind in ways that disrupt the phenomenal confidence one needs to push past the limits of what has been done before. When will I come back? Will I ever be the athlete I was? Can I push the limits past what has ever been done before? The “willies” Simone Biles referred to when on a parallel beam and the fear Mikaela Shiffrin mentioned when returning from a brutal injury are suffered by athletes of all ages and all skill levels. If a microdose of a psychedelic could help resolve that potentially fatal fear quickly, the value would be enormous.
Addiction to the gym. The body sculpting of athletes can be a wonderful addition to fitness training and glorious to look at. Yet we all know gym rats whose lives are not fulfilled unless they spend hours each day standing before the mirrors with heavy weights. They are impervious to guidance. Could a “journey” with psychedelics open their minds to alternative views of themselves?
And what about the ability to elevate achievements? Could mind-altering drugs be the new sports performance drugs? I once asked a ski team athlete who was fantastic in training —but often skied out of the course in competition—if she knew the difference between visualization and fantasy. She did not. Visualization, I answered, is what she did in practice to memorize the course. Fantasy is what she needed to see herself on the winners’ podium. Could brief transcendental experiences to heighten the ability to fantasize help develop athletes’ abilities in competitions?
Many people are repulsed by the idea that augmented mental development is as important as the physical body-building we enhance with optimized nutrition and legal supplements. Psychedelic drugs are not legal yet but appear to be on a path toward acceptance in the medical community. Athletes are early adopters, so get ready for this aspect of sports training.
Virtual reality headsets and AI-augmented coaching guides are just the beginning of a trend to augment human potential and overcome barriers to success. Opening the mind and sweeping away our inhibitions are next. Can you see it now?
References
- Goodwin, G. M., Aaronson, S. T., Alvarez, O., et al. (2023). Single-Dose Psilocybin Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2808950
- Mitchell, J. M., O’Neil, K. A., & Wilbur, R. (2023). MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Moderate to Severe PTSD: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. Nature Medicine. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02565-4
