Immediately following treatment with psilocybin, patients reported a decrease in depressive symptoms, such as improvements in mood and stress relief.
Magic mushrooms may effectively “reset” the activity of key brain circuits known to play a role in depression, the latest study to highlight the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics suggests.
Only recently have scientists been able to study psilocybin in the laboratory as Magic Mushroom have been categorized by the US federal government as a Schedule 1 substance, also known as 'controlled substances'.
Schedule 1
The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical treatment use in the U.S.
There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or substance under medical supervision.
No prescriptions may be written for Schedule I substances, and they are not readily available for clinical use.
Drugs / Substances listed in DEA Schedule 1 include:
- Heroin (diacetylmorphine)
- LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide)
- Marijuana (cannabis, THC)
- Mescaline (Peyote)
- MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine or “ecstasy”)
- GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid)
- Ecstasy (MDMA or 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine)
- Psilocybin
- Methaqualone (Quaalude)
- Khat (Cathinone)
- Bath Salts (3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone or MDPV)
Source: drugs.com
Psychedelics have shown promising results in the treatment of depression and addictions in a number of clinical trials over the last decade. Imperial College London researchers used psilocybin – the psychoactive compound that occurs naturally in magic mushrooms – to treat a small number of patients with depression, monitoring their brain function, before and after.
In 2016, two landmark US studies involving advanced cancer patients and psilocybin treatments found that depression and anxiety were reduced with a single dosage of psilocybin for up to 8 moths.
Recently a new study published in the journal Scientific Report adds more weight to the notion that psilocybin could be an effective treatment for depression and anxiety with patients reporting they felt relief from their fears almost immediately.
Patient Reactions
The results from the small sample sized study are encouraging showing that:
“Several of our patients described feeling ‘reset’ after the treatment and often used computer analogies. For example, one said he felt like his brain had been ‘defragged’ like a computer hard drive, and another said he felt ‘rebooted’.
“Psilocybin may be giving these individuals the temporary ‘kick start’ they need to break out of their depressive states and these imaging results do tentatively support a ‘reset’ analogy. Similar brain effects to these have been seen with electroconvulsive therapy.”
Immediately following treatment with psilocybin, patients reported a decrease in depressive symptoms, such as improvements in mood and stress relief.
MRI imaging revealed reduced blood flow in areas of the brain, including the amygdala, a small, almond-shaped region of the brain known to be involved in processing emotional responses, stress and fear.
The authors believe the findings provide a new window into what happens in the brains of people after they have ‘come down’ from a psychedelic, with an initial disintegration of brain networks during the drug ‘trip’ followed by a re-integration afterwards.
See the full study here
Implications
This is more great news but it still is frustrating to see that the US government / DEA / FDA continue to classify natural plants and fungi as Schedule 1 substances that has prevented scientific examination of potential medical benefits of any substance. Instead, people are incarcerated for simply possessing marijuana while pharmaceutical companies make obscene profits from antidepressants and synthetic opiates.
The authors currently plan to test psilocybin against a leading antidepressant in a trial set to start early next year.
I'm going to go ahead an call it now. Imho, I truly believe that psilocybin will blow away any and all the antidepressants and psychotropic pharmaceuticals on the market in terms of lasting effectiveness and minimal side effects and harm.
Several years ago, psilocybin (as well as regular exercise) helped relieve my depression and anxiety. Though I exercised nearly everyday, I only ingested magic mushrooms once and the results were immediate. I was able to detach myself from my stress and fears and gained an entirely different perception of my situation. I truly believe that psilocybin has great medicinal potential and could be very effective in treating PTSD along with depression and anxiety.
[Warning: I'm not advocating that you run out and defrag your mind with magic mushrooms... but if I did I would encourage inexperienced users to start with small doses and to make sure to trip with someone that you love and respect.]
