The third Monday in January has been nicknamed ‘Blue Monday’ in reference to the prevalence of depression and low mood at this time of year. Though the original term ‘Blue Monday’ itself was coined by a travel ad, the concept has grown into an annual moment of recognition of the severity of mental health conditions, with factors including the colder weather, debt from the festive season and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) creating a climate in which the visibility of unmet mental health needs and possible treatment options are more important than ever.
The CDPRG is grateful to our collaborators for coming together to present this video, which is based on a session of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Drug Policy Reform with the APPG for Mental Health convened by the CDPRG in September 2020, which raised awareness among Parliamentarians of the need to reduce restrictions on research and treatment with psilocybin for the millions in the UK whose pain is not alleviated by existing treatments and who stand to benefit from new approaches to improving mental health.
With our chairman Crispin Blunt MP, Dr. James Rucker (Head of the Psychedelic Trials Group, IoPPN, King’s College London), Michael Bourne (Participant in the PsiloDep1 Trial at Imperial College, London), Ainslie Course (Vice President, ClusterBusters), Guy Murray (veteran and Research Assistant at Heroic Hearts UK), Prof. Jo Neill (Psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester, b-neuro), Dr. Ben Sessa (Chief Medical Officer at AWAKN Life Sciences), Rudi Fortson QC (Visiting Professor of Law at Queen Mary University), Dr. Dave King (Consultant for the CDPRG, Breaking Convention co-founder).
