{"id":68245,"date":"2022-12-01T20:51:56","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T20:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=68245"},"modified":"2022-12-01T22:11:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T22:11:04","slug":"christian-angermayer-combat-mental-health-mushrooms","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/christian-angermayer-combat-mental-health-mushrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic Hour: Christian Angermayer Is On A Mission To Combat The Mental Health Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photographs by PAUL MOREL
Styled by ADELE CANY
Photographs assisted by MARIANA DEROUDILHE Grooming by PHOEBE TAYLOR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The entrepreneur is on a mission to combat the mental health crisis by making psychedelics accepted in society.<\/p>\n

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As soon as Christian Angermayer<\/strong>, one of Europe\u2019s most successful entrepreneurs and investors, signs onto our Zoom call on a Saturday morning, he\u2019s upbeat and excited to dive into various topics he\u2019s passionate about, one of them being his quest for longevity and happiness.<\/p>\n

The self-made billionaire founder of Apeiron Investment Group<\/a>, a global investment firm focused on tech and biotech investments, grew up in a 90-person village in Germany and has stayed busy from a young age.<\/p>\n

At 14, he had his first entrepreneurial idea in the form of a tutoring company. Today, Apeiron owns stakes in more than 100 companies globally including well-known brands like CBD beverage TRIP<\/a>, hotel group Aethos<\/a> and home fitness device company FORME LIFE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Angermayer is one of the owners of TRIP, UK\u2019s best-selling CBD drink. TRIP is about to expand into the US in partnership with Gopuff and is already available in New York, Chicago, and soon in California, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and Florida.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But his main passion is biotech. With more than $3 billion under management through his Apeiron Investment Group, the entrepreneur created biotech companies ATAI Life Sciences<\/a>, Cambrian BioPharma<\/a> and Rejuveron Life Sciences<\/a>, building on his belief that everyone wants to live healthier, happier and longer lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed aging in itself is a disease, so why not find a cure for it?\u201d Angermayer, 44, exclusively tells GRAZIA USA<\/em>. \u201cWith Cambrian and Rejuveron, we are working hard to discover therapeutics to mitigate the aging process. I am very confident we soon will be able to slow down and even reverse aging and push life expectancy up significantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photographs by PAUL MOREL
Styled by ADELE CANY
Photographs assisted by MARIANA DEROUDILHE Grooming by PHOEBE TAYLOR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though the products won\u2019t be on the market for some time \u2014 anywhere from five to 15 years \u2014 Angermayer is hopeful that 20 years from now, \u201cwe\u2019re going to have the potential to live some hundred years. I don\u2019t think we will want to live forever though. I envisage a future in which people will decide themselves when they want to die. This for me is the ultimate freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there are no therapeutics on the market yet which would make us live some hundred years, there is a lot you can do already today to increase the probability that you are still around when our drugs will come to market over the next 20 years,\u201d says Angermayer, who takes about 40 supplements a day.<\/p>\n

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Photographs by PAUL MOREL
Styled by ADELE CANY
Photographs assisted by MARIANA DEROUDILHE Grooming by PHOEBE TAYLOR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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But supplements are actually not his main secret: \u201cThe big five are sleep, no drugs, diet, exercise and a fulfilled social life. I get a lot of sleep, and I don\u2019t schedule meetings in the morning, so that I can wake up naturally and not with an alarm clock. I don\u2019t take any drugs, and especially I\u2019ve never drank alcohol. I eat well and follow a Mediterranean diet, so lots of fish and vegetables, no meat, and I exercise at least four times a week. Lastly and most importantly, you need to have good relationships with your family and friends. A healthy social life seems to have the biggest influence on your health and life expectancy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Over the years, Angermayer had many realizations, with one being that longevity and mental health go hand in hand. \u201cThe desire to be happy and healthy is one of the few dreams we all share. Or you could say that the total addressable market is 100% of the world\u2019s population.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this day and age, most health care systems are overburdened and unable to deal with the rise in mental health issues \u2014 more than 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression while more than 264 million suffer from anxiety \u2014 but once Angermayer was introduced to the idea of taking psychedelics, things changed.<\/p>\n

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Angermayer owns an extensive art collection that includes ancient artifacts highlight the role psychedelics played in human history.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u201cIn 2013, I was at a friend\u2019s dinner party seated next to a very famous German neuroscientist,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI told him I have never smoked, never drank alcohol. We spent the whole evening talking about the brain, and he spoke to me about a study by Professor David Nutt<\/strong> from Imperial College London, which evaluated legal and illegal drugs and what harm they might cause on one\u2019s body. The study concluded that the most dangerous drug is alcohol, but the least risky was magic mushrooms. At the same time, my seat neighbor pointed out that magic mushrooms have the potential to cure many mental health issues, and in fact, had been an approved medical drug in the last century in some countries.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI said, \u2018Look, I\u2019m happy, I don\u2019t have mental health issues, I don\u2019t need anything, and for sure I won\u2019t take an illegal drug.\u2019 However, the conversation made me interested, because I\u2019m a naturally curious person, and I started researching the medical potential of magic mushrooms. Of big help in this research process were my best friends Julian Morris<\/strong> and Landon Ross<\/strong>, who had advocated for the therapeutic use of psychedelics to me for a while. And then, in 2014, when my rational mind was convinced that if taken in the right way these substances have very little to zero risk, but tremendous upside potential, Julian and Landon were my guides for my first experience on a wonderful beach in the Caribbean. It was hands down the single most meaningful, important, positive experience of my whole life. Nothing comes close to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The entrepreneur loves to travel, which is one of the many reasons he built his own boutique brand Aethos Hotels, which focuses on well-being, authenticity and understated luxury. Aethos Saragano launched in Italy and is a boutique hotel in the heart of Italy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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From there, Angermayer knew he was onto something. \u201cI thought, \u2018If it\u2019s making me as a happy person this more positive and happier, I can totally see how it might cure mental health issues,\u2019\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n

He subsequently started two biotech companies \u2014 ATAI and Compass, which are both listed on Nasdaq stock exchange in the meantime – to further develop the active compound in magic mushrooms, which is called psilocybin, and several other psychedelics. However, Angermayer doesn\u2019t want these substances to become legal as a consumer product. Instead, he is redeveloping these substances as FDA-approved, medical therapeutics: in order for people to use them, they will have to be under their therapist\u2019s supervision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look back at human history, humans have used psychedelics for healing purposes throughout all times and cultures, but they were always regulated,\u201d he notes. \u201cYou had to go to a shaman or priest. The priests and shamans of our time are psychotherapists. You should only take these substances with them in a controlled environment and in the right setting. As I had my friends Julian and Landon as my guides for my first experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Today, magic mushrooms and other psychedelics are legal in some parts of South America. If Angermayer succeeds, they will be available under a doctor\u2019s supervision in the U.S. and Europe within some years.<\/p>\n

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Aethos Ericeira, found in Encarna\u00e7\u00e3o Portugal, is the place to visit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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While his focus is on making these substances available for people with mental health issues, it might well be
\nthat down the road everybody might want to take a trip: \u201cOne of the big flaws of the Western healthcare system is that we are mostly focused on curing issues once they arise. It would be much more efficient to focus more on not getting sick in the first place. Hence, it could well be that people will seek out psychedelic-assisted therapy in challenging moments in their life before they actually slide into a mental health issue.”<\/p>\n

Asked what a trip is like, he explains: \u201cThe experience you have under psychedelics is not always a fun one but can be challenging at times. It is very hard to describe, but simplified said it is a deep, spiritual experience, and often people face and overcome their fears, inner demons and trauma, which we all have. You learn a lot about yourself, you heal, and you grow as a human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

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AURORA INSTITUTE Special Evening hosted by Christian Angermayer, Louise Tabbiner, Henry and Souraya Chalhoub at Le Beauvallon on July 23, 2022 in Saint- Tropez, France.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201cBut the hardest part is to take these learnings and change your life,\u201d he adds. \u201cThe trip is just the realization, but it\u2019s at least equally important that you take the learnings from the trip and incorporate those into your life. That can be tough, and this is one reason why it is so important to have the experience with a trained therapist together, who helps with integration work after.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Angermayer is sure his learnings from his psychedelic journeys are part of why he\u2019s so successful. \u201cI feel magic mushrooms helped me improve as a human being. It also made me more creative, open and innovative. It made me a better entrepreneur and investor,\u201d he states.<\/p>\n

For Angermayer, longevity, mental health and psychedelics all go together: \u201cOnce we\u2019re happy and healthy, we want to live for as long as we please. Psychedelics are the most important tool we have to stay mentally healthy and to cure \u2014 or at least improve \u2014 mental health issues. If we don\u2019t start now, the mental health crisis will only get worse. It\u2019s already the number one disease out there and the numbers will just grow, as the modern world around us seems to be toxic for our mental health, so we need to solve the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photographs by PAUL MOREL
Styled by ADELE CANY
Photographs assisted by MARIANA DEROUDILHE Grooming by PHOEBE TAYLOR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before signing off our hour and a half call, I simply ask: \u201cWould you say you\u2019re happy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Angermayer replies, \u201cYes, I think I\u2019m very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read GRAZIA USA\u2019s Winter issue featuring cover star Lizzy Caplan:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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