Australia has one of the highest rates of mental illness in the world.

An estimated 45 per cent of the population will experience a mental illness in their lifetime, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing

Globally, 15 per cent of the world’s population suffered from some form of mental illness in 2016.

For many sufferers, there are few treatment options - anti-depressants and other medications can cause unwanted side-effects, while ongoing therapy can be slow and expensive.

Australia has one of the highest rates of mentall illness in the world. (IHME, Global Burden of Disease)

Less than half of people experiencing a mental illness will seek help.

This, and the pursuit of better understanding of matters of the mind, has prompted scientists and researchers to consider alternatives.

Overseas, drug trials involving psylocibin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have delivered what appears to be ground-breaking results in treating mental illness, especially in patients at the end of their lives.

In April, Australia will begin its very own psychedelic drug trial at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, with an initial intake of 30 patients.

AUSTRALIAN-FIRST

Peter Hunt, a former investment banker, and his wife Tania De Jong will tomorrow officially launch Mind Medicine Australia (MMA).

Through its association with research not-for-profit organisation, Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine (PRISM), it is helping fund the nation’s first ever psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy trial.

“ Mental illness affects all levels of society but the benefit is for people that are wealthier, they have greater access to treatment,” Mr Hunt told nine.com.au.

Peter Hunt and Tania De Jong. (Supplied)

“The rate of suicide has been steadily increasing in Australia over the past decade and these sobering statistics call for awareness, education and better therapeutic solutions to alleviate the suffering of individuals and the burden of mental health disease on society,” Ms De Jong added.

The pair have done scores of work in the mental health sector and have also been directly impacted by people suffering within their own families.

“ It’s rare that you get the chance to be involved in something that shifts a paradigm,” Mr Hunt said.

There is however, still a stigma around the use of psychedelic drugs.

“We have to get people to realise that psychedelic therapy is not recreational drug taking.

“We’ve got to get over this hang-up and start looking at the signs.”

“THE SIGNS”

In similar trials in the US and UK, the use of psylocibin has shown remarkable results in patients with treatment-resistant depression. That is, mental illness that has not responded well to other avenues.

Professor David Nutt is Head of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London. He has been at the forefront in the research and application of psychedelic therapies for more than a decade.

He said the results so far are “nothing like we’ve ever seen before”.

“No other treatment has given people with a resistant depression a kind of effective remission for months,” he told nine.com.au.

“What we find is this… everyone got a bit better, some people got spectacularly better and actually met the criteria for a ‘cure’. That is they were ‘cured’ for months, we followed up after six months.”

“It’s not a cure but it’s transformational.

“I believe we are entering a new era of psychology.”

Professor Martin Williams, and Professor David Nutt. (Supplied)

THE TRIAL

The trial in Australia is intended to be an extension of the ground-breaking work done overseas, not a replica.

Martin Williams, a postdoctoral fellow in Medicinal Chemistry at Monash University and the Founder of PRISM, is a co-lead investigator on the trial set to kick off at St Vincent’s in April this year.

To qualify for the program in Melbourne, patients need to be suffering from a life-threatening illness, and associated depression and anxiety.

They must also have a prognosis of six months or more so their results can be tracked over time, and will need to be referred from within St Vincent’s.

HOW IT WORKS

The experience itself begins in a comfortable room, with the patient and two therapists, one male, and one female, Professor Williams explained.

The subject is then given a dose of psylocibin, which starts to take effect after about half an hour.

“Commonly a sense of anxiety will be felt as something is starting to happen,” Professor Williams told nine.com.au

The Australian-first trail will take place at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne. (SVHM)

“They will start to see some distinct visuals happening, and then the anxiety will subside.

“The visuals can be quite strong, and will then settle down into a more introspective experience.”

The experience can last up to eight hours.

“Intensity of the experience has been found to correlate positively with the therapeutic benefits,” Professor Williams said.

As for the criticism that the therapy is akin to recreational drug use, scientists argue that is simply not that case.

“This is very heavy-duty psychotherapy, this is not entertainment. It changes the way you view yourself and your relationship with your life,” Professor Nutt explained.

Mind Medicine Australia Launch: A New Paradigm for Mental Health with renowned researcher, Professor David Nutt, will take place in Melbourne tomorrow night. For more information or tickets click here .