Psychedelics Scientist Roland Griffiths Finds Joy in Facing the End

Psychedelics Scientist Roland Griffiths Finds Joy in Facing the End

Finding Joy in the Face of Adversity: A Psychopharmacologist’s Journey

When last we spoke with Roland Griffiths, PhD, in the fall of 2021, psychedelic-assisted therapies were just starting to enter mainstream public consciousness – as HealthyGrown explored with Griffiths’s help in an in-depth series called “Magic Mushrooms, MDMA, and the Promise of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy.”

For Griffiths, a psychopharmacologist and an elder statesman of psychedelic research, it was a very gratifying time in both his professional and personal life. The psychedelic substances he had been studying in the lab for 2 decades were finally being taken seriously as medications that could help people with specific mental health issues like depression, anxiety, addiction, and PTSD. His personal relationships with those closest to him were good, and his primary relationship with his life partner, Marla, was a source of great meaning and sustenance.

Then, just a few months after our conversation, doctors diagnosed Griffiths with end-stage colon cancer. He had every reason to be resentful and angry, as he’d been careful about his health and followed doctors’ orders regarding screenings.

Griffiths knew of the possibly devastating psychological toll of such a diagnosis through his previous research – the first of its kind – on psychedelic therapies for those with end-stage cancer.

And yet, after the initial shock and denial that often come with such a diagnosis, he found something else: Joy.

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“I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude and joy and love for how I’m experiencing the world despite everything,” says Griffiths.

The response is as much a surprise and a mystery to him as it is to anyone else. And yet his feeling about his diagnosis has been clear and unalloyed. “What a tragedy it would have been,” he says, “if I had been run over by a bus on the way to that cancer screening.”

“I would have missed so many amazing things.”

Discovering Joy in the Midst of Adversity

The diagnosis has shifted his priorities in profound ways, says Griffiths, bringing him closer to those he loves and making him more open about his own experiences with psychedelics – something he had been careful to avoid previously.

“There are going to be some people who are going to think that I’ve not been an objective scientist. I don’t think that’s true because I went into work for psychedelics as a skeptic. … Now I have some personal experience that I can also speak to.”

Since the diagnosis, Griffiths also established an endowed professorship at Johns Hopkins University to support world-class research on psychedelic substances “to advance understanding of well-being and spirituality in the service of promoting human flourishing for generations to come.”

A Conversation of Resilience and Growth

In a candid conversation, Griffiths and his wife, Marla Weiner, sat down with Manish Agrawal, MD, an oncologist and psychedelics researcher at Sunstone Therapies, to discuss Griffiths’s diagnosis, his meditation practice, the psychedelic experience, and more.

Despite the serious nature of his diagnosis, Griffiths approaches it with a remarkable sense of humor and positivity. His ability to find joy in difficult circumstances serves as an inspiration to all who encounter his story.

Embracing the Unknown

Griffiths’s journey is a reminder to embrace the unknown and find joy even in the face of adversity. His personal experience with psychedelics has deepened his understanding of their potential benefits, making him an even more passionate advocate for their use in therapeutic settings.

By sharing his story and establishing a professorship for psychedelic research, Griffiths is ensuring that future generations will have access to groundbreaking studies that explore the intersection of well-being, spirituality, and psychedelic substances.

As the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy continues to grow, Griffiths’s resilience and message of finding joy amid hardship serve as a beacon of hope for patients, researchers, and individuals seeking a more profound understanding of mental health and well-being.

In the end, it is not the circumstances we face that define us, but how we choose to navigate them. Roland Griffiths’s unwavering positivity and determination to find joy serve as a powerful reminder of the human spirit’s capacity for resilience and growth.