Self-Care Leader Deepak Chopra announced Tuesday a new partnership with MindMed, a clinical-stage psychedelic medicine company, saying the collaboration was in line with his continued interest in the mind-body relationship.
“I am working with MindMed to educate the public and raise public awareness of research on psychedelics,” said Chopra. “I don’t think psychedelics are a panacea, but I think they play a big role … in PTSD, depression, suicide prevention, and a lot more.”
A phase 3 clinical study found that MDMA, popularly known as ecstasy, when combined with therapy, helped people with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Two-thirds of the participants in the MDMA test group no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD two months after treatment. However, the therapists warn that home treatment cannot be repeated with the street version of the drug.
Chopra told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that mental distress “is the number one pandemic in the world” and that someone commits suicide every 40 seconds and is another reason they want to raise awareness about psychedelics.
Commenting on Chopra, host Shepard Smith said he has “long supported alternative drugs with mixed results that are often questioned by doctors,” and wanted to know how his partnership with MindMed is different. Smith added a quote from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins who said that Chopra “uses quantum jargon as plausible-sounding hocus-pocus”.
Chopra explained to Smith that a Google search would lead to evidence when it comes to psychedelics and mindfulness.
“You just have to look it up, just googling the evidence of mindfulness and mindfulness on psychedelics and ignoring people like Dawkins,” said Chopra.
Richard Dawkins did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
