Welcome to issue #19 of The Ethical Trip! This fortnight:
Why did GH Research have a patent rejected?
Is the North Star approach to ethics all it’s cracked up to be?
How can you come up with a good psychedelic business name?
For all this, plus an idiosyncratic roundup of recent research, a new player in psychedelic phama, and alleged humour, read on!
Huge thanks to everyone supporting this work. Whether it’s feedback, sharing, or contributing a few dollars a month via buy me a coffee cactus, it all makes a big difference to me and I’m deeply grateful.
Table of Contents
Industry Insights:
Research Round-up
Shiju et al (2026) gives a scoping review and narrative synthesis of review-level evidence of self-medication using psychedelics, primarily for pain. Most of the evidence (that met the requirements for the review at least) was around using either LSD or psilocybin, predominately for cluster headaches and chronic pain. Reported effectiveness varied, but was very positive overall.
VanderZwaag et al (2026) use data from the Global Psychedelic Survey to explore self-treatment in people suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI). It seems that most respondents reported improvements to their TBI-related symptoms, that psilocybin was rated as the most effective substance in managing their symptoms, and that relief was stronger for mood-related symptoms than for cognitive or somatic symptoms.
Kerr-Gaffney et al (2026) found that experiences of oceanic boundlessness mediated changes in values around appreciation for life, concern for others, meaning/sense of purpose, and self-acceptance.
Lots more good stuff below, but only for subscribers!
