Prince Charles calls psychedelic research centre founder ‘brilliant’

The Prince of Wales has called the founder of psychedelic research centre Synthesis Institute “one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met”, with prominent artists and politicians around the world taking steps to join the growing conversation around psychedelics. <br><br>In an interview with psychedelic research centre Synthesis Institute for Frieze magazine, Prince Charles said: “I’m so glad you’re doing this and I hope you will continue to get the recognition you deserve for all that you do. You’ve always been one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, frankly.”<br><br>Speaking to Frieze magazine, Christian Angermayer, founder and chairman of Synthesis Institute, said: “Psychedelics can be employed to efficiently fight mental health issues like depression. It’s not a question of ‘whether it works or not’, it’s only a question of how does it scale. It’s already a proven treatment.” <br><br>Prince Charles first met Angermayer in 2019 when the German entrepreneur was considered a “new fringe player” in the psychedelic space. Since then, he has come to be considered one of the major players in psychedelic research with a number of prominent partners and prominent board members, including David Nutt.<br><br>As part of the growing evidence base around psychedelics, studies are underway to explore how psychedelics can help with mental health, addiction and chronic pain, and to better understand how human brain processes function with and without psychedelics, as well as psychedelic use for spiritual purposes.<br><br>Frieze magazine said: “Psychedelic research, in other words, is a field of study with the sort of real-world impact that makes it as engrossing and as contentious as Covid, or renewable energy. <br><br>Psychedelics have come a long way since the countercultural psychedelic movement of the 1960s, when psychedelic experimentation was a pathway to self-discovery for prominent artists including Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. <br><br>The Prince of Wales joins a growing list of prominent individuals exploring psychedelics. Speaking recently about their use of psychedelics, entrepreneur and Twitter CEO Elon Musk said: “Psychedelics caused huge breakthroughs in my thinking.” <br><br>Prince Harry has also talked about how psychedelic therapy has helped him, saying: “I’ll never forget the feeling my first time taking psilocybin, the world came alive. I had a sense of transportation into a world that was both beautiful and unsettling.”<br><br>The growing conversation around psychedelics has encouraged artists including Marina Abramovic, Will Benedict and Genesis P-Orridge, to share their personal uses of psychedelics. <br><br>The development of psychedelic research also has the support of prominent politicians including Boris Johnson, Sadiq Khan and Nancy Pelosi, bringing psychedelic research further into mainstream culture. <br><br>Founded by Christian Angermayer in 2018, Synthesis Institute is one of the largest privately funded psychedelic research centres globally and has conducted multiple clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted therapy.