The 51% Blind Spot: Psychedelics, Women's Health and the Opportunity We Must Not Miss

Women represent 51% of the population, the majority of mental health diagnoses, and are the most underserved group in biomedical research - yet they remain largely invisible in the emerging science of psychedelics. This talk argues that women's biology is not a variable to be controlled for, but a lens through which we must fundamentally reimagine psychedelic research and clinical practice. Drawing on the neurobiological, hormonal, psychological, sociological and lived-experience dimensions that shape how psychedelics work in women's bodies - and on proprietary research by Hystelica - this presentation maps what we know, what we have failed to ask, and what is at stake. The psychedelic renaissance offers a rare and time-limited opportunity to do things differently: to build an evidence base that is inclusive, rigorous and truly fit for purpose. Rather than repeating the historic failures that have cost women dearly across healthcare, we can instead unlock an extraordinary frontier for women's health. Women cannot be an afterthought. They must be the starting point.