National call for volunteers to test ground-breaking psychedelic treatments for mental health conditions

London, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Clerkenwell Health, a leading provider of mental health research, has today called for volunteers to join its groundbreaking clinical trials looking at whether psychedelics can provide effective treatments for complex mental health conditions.

Clerkenwell is seeking a diverse group of volunteers, from right across the country and aged between 18-65, to take part in the trials if they suffer from a relevant condition. Volunteers can sign up on Clerkenwell Health’s website.

The trials, conducted at Clerkenwell Health’s purpose-built facility near Harley Street in London, are being run in partnership with a number of word-leading drug developers to test whether psychedelic drugs – often combined with talking therapy – can offer a new approach to treating a variety of mental health illnesses.

Clerkenwell Health is seeking volunteers for trials which look to find cures for a range of conditions, including: PTSD, depression, alcohol use disorder, anorexia and post-partum depression. Many of the conditions Clerkenwell are running trials for currently have few options for seriously improving the quality of life of patients and avoiding relapse. Clerkenwell’s innovative methods of combining powerful but regulated psychedelics with therapy would look to treat the problem more holistically, providing long-term quality of life returns for patients.

According to MIND, approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will be affected by a mental health condition each year and with a significant rise in people contacting mental health services in recent years, there has never been a more desperate need to identify new and innovative treatments. 

Given the challenges facing the country’s health service and with mental health challenges on the rise, the search for volunteers to test effective treatments has never been more pressing. Clerkenwell has therefore gone national with its search for volunteers in an effort to deliver medical breakthroughs in mental health akin to the Polio clinical trials in the 20^th Century. 

Dr Henry Fisher, Chief Scientific Officer at Clerkenwell Health, said:

“With the current system for treating mental health disorders simply not working, we’re calling for patients to help identify the next wave of treatments. These have the potential to be ground-breaking for the millions of people across the UK who are affected by poor mental health.

“The status quo for mental health treatment has not only resulted in patients experiencing debilitating side-effects, huge waiting lists and high relapse rates, but is costly, complicated and broadly ineffective. By participating in upcoming clinical trials, patients have an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to growing research which will support the development of the next generation treatments for mental health conditions.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

About Clerkenwell Health

• Clerkenwell Health is the modern mental health company specialising in matching patients with cutting-edge psychiatry treatments.
• Clerkenwell Health’s vision is to fundamentally change the face of mental healthcare by building the clinical research expertise and care delivery platform needed for a new wave of mental health and neurological treatments – including psychedelic medicines and braincare technologies.
• Experts in finding mental health patients and training the specialised therapists needed to deliver new treatments, Clerkenwell Health’s hybrid research and treatment model provides access to treatments still in R&D through clinical trials or approved treatments through an international network of clinics.
• Clerkenwell Health is already recruiting for clinical trials 3x faster than its competitors, have a 600+ therapist waiting list, and are backed by leading mental health and technology investors Matt Cooper, Exceptional Ventures, Vine Ventures, Convergence Partners and Lionheart Ventures.
• A video of Clerkenwell Health’s facility just off Harley Street can be found here.

Statistics

• Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year – Data from Mind
• Around 14% of NHS mental health positions in the capital currently vacant – Data from the latest NHS statistics

• Clerkenwell Health treatment room