Mind matters: The Science of Mental Health

The talk will provide an introduction to novel pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions, namely the use of a new innovative pharmaco-psychotherapeutic treatment for cocaine addiction and the use of psychedelic substances in psychological research. The talk will present two studies currently being conducted at the Psychiatric University Hospital in Zurich. In the first study (CoBoost), a neurofeedback protocol reinforced with ketamine is used to combat cocaine addiction. The second study (2ASC) is investigating whether stimulation of the serotonin system with psychedelic substances has a long-lasting effect on social behavior in healthy humans.

Nowadays, people no longer speak of “madness” but of “mental disorders”, but interest in this has remained: by scientifically examining and testing people, general statements about certain psychological phenomena can be made. It is usually scientists - e.g. psychiatrists and psychologists - who initiate, carry out and evaluate such research projects - and, last but not least, benefit from them. Those affected, on the other hand, remain the subject of investigation. In contrast, the project “Let`s talk about it – but how?” involves people with mental illnesses as co-researchers with the aim of enriching the research through their experiential knowledge.