How A Single Dose of Psychedelic Magic Mushrooms Eases Severe People Suffering From Anxiety & Depression.

Psychedelic magic mushrooms commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include Psilocybe, Panaeolus, Inocybe, Pluteus, Gymnopilus, and Pholiotina

The drug was administered in the presence of trained therapists. Participants in the study also met with a therapist several times before and after the psychedelic session.

Results of the study, which were published on November 3 in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed an almost immediate decrease in depression symptoms, with the strongest benefit seen among people taking 25 milligrams of synthetic psilocybin.

“This study, which is by far the largest clinical trial on the use of psychedelics magic muchrooms for treatment-resistant depression to date, demonstrated that a single 25-mg dose of psilocybin improved participants’ symptoms of depression in comparison to a 1-mg dose,”

Dr. James Rucker, a consultant psychiatrist at King’s College London, who took part in the research, said in a news release.

“These findings are a positive step in the right direction. Our task now is to investigate psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression in larger clinical trials with more participants, comparing it both to placebo and to established treatments,” he added.

Millions with treatment-resistant depression

The clinical trial, which took place at 22 sites in the United States, Canada, and Europe, was designed to test the safety and effectiveness of different dosages of the synthetic version of psilocybin.

Researchers enrolled 233 people with treatment-resistant depression — defined as failing to respond to two or more courses of treatment with antidepressants.

An estimated 2.8 million people in the United States have treatment-resistant depression, with nearly 9 million Americans being treated medically for major depressive disorder, one study found.

People with this condition have more severe and longer-lasting depression and are at higher risk of disability, physical illness, hospitalization, and suicide, the authors of the new study wrote.

Participants in the trial were required to reduce their use of antidepressants leading up to the psilocybin session, stopping completely at least 2 weeks before their first study visit. They were also asked to not use antidepressants for three weeks after receiving psilocybin.

“However, [antidepressant treatment] could be started at any time during the trial if deemed clinically necessary by a physician investigator,” the authors wrote.

Researchers assessed the severity of participants’ depression before the psilocybin session with a psychological scale widely used by clinicians. This assessment was repeated several more times during the 12-week follow-up period.

The psychedelic session, which was supervised by two therapists, lasted between 6 and 8 hours. Participants were randomly assigned to receive one of the three dosages.

Safety profile of psilocybin

Overall, Back said the results of the new study are promising and suggest the potential of psilocybin as a treatment for treatment-resistant depression.

“But it’s not the perfect treatment,” he said. “There are people who didn’t respond, and there are people for whom the depression came back.”

Future research will need to address these limitations, he said, including looking at whether more than one dose of psilocybin is needed for lasting results.

He also thinks future trials should compare psilocybin-assisted therapy to another treatment, such as a regular antidepressant. Ideally, these studies would have a longer follow-up, 6 months or more, he said.

 

 

Potential side effects

Among participants in the new study, 77% experienced side effects such as headache, nausea, and dizziness.

A small number of people in each of the dosage groups had suicidal thoughts or injured themselves during the 12-week follow-up period, researchers found.

Back said these types of serious adverse effects have been seen in all studies of treatment-resistant depression.

“What this suggests is that people with treatment-resistant depression need ongoing psychological care to watch out for [signs of suicidal thoughts and self-injury],” he said.

This is one of the reasons that he thinks psilocybin-assisted treatment should be done in the presence of trained clinicians, with ongoing psychological follow-up.

“This is not a DIY thing. Suicidality is hard to deal with,” he said. “That is my caveat for people who are thinking, ‘I’ll just get some mushrooms and try this on my own.’”

Psilocybin shares some similarities with serotonin, a chemical messenger that plays an important part in mood regulation. Low or imbalanced levels of serotonin can lead to anxiety and depression. But mushrooms act on your body’s serotoninergic system, so they could help restore the balance of serotonin in your bod

Can a Psychedelic Mushrooms Trip Really Help Ease Anxiety?

Heard the recent hype around magic mushrooms as a potential mental health treatment? Maybe you’re wondering exactly how they might work to improve anxiety and depression.

After all, they’re known to cause hallucinations and other changes in perception. So, wouldn’t that mean they’re more likely to increase anxiety than relieve it?

It’s certainly true that some people notice anxiety and paranoia when taking mushrooms. Yet more and more research suggests psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound in mushrooms, may have long-lasting benefits when it comes to reducing anxiety and depression

So, what exactly are those benefits?

Existing research on microdosing primarily focuses on self-reported use and benefits, though an upcoming clinical trial may add new insight.

Participants who responded to research surveys mentionedTrusted Source enhanced performance and productivity as one of the main reasons behind their microdosing. Of course, “enhanced performance” can cover a lot of ground. More specific benefits include:

• improved mood
• a boost to creativity
• increased energy
• heightened concentration and focus

People also microdose with mushrooms in order to improve mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression. But evidence supporting this use remains pretty limited, in part because psilocybin remains mostly illegal.

Is it safe to TRY?

Existing evidence doesn’t point to any major risks associated with psilocybin. Due to their legal status, though, true psilocybin mushrooms are hard to come by. This leads some people to forage for their own in the wild or buy them from unfamiliar sources. Keep in mind that some mushrooms are toxic, and ingesting them can cause serious illness or even death.

• headaches or migraine
• dizziness
• pupil dilation
• nausea and vomiting
• increased sweating or body chills
• numbness
• overstimulation
• body tremors and muscle weakness
• rapid or irregular heart rate
• changes in sleep, including both increased tiredness and trouble sleeping 

• Microdoses of around 0.5 grams and smaller macrodoses doses of around 2 to 3 grams may be less likelyTrusted Source to lead to negative side effects. Of course, there’s no guarantee you won’t experience unwanted effects, since other factors beyond the amount you take can play a part.

  These factors might include:

  • previous use of mushrooms
  • current use of other substances or medications
  • the strength of the mushrooms
  • existing health concerns