For years the use of Magic Mushrooms has been studied for Eating Disorders and others Mental Illnesses.
Michael Pollan: “LSD and hallucinogenic mushrooms help cure mental illness.” An estimated 100 million people worldwide suffer from severe clinical depression that does not respond to any available treatment; 30% attempt suicide.
For years the use of psychedelic drugs has been studied as an alternative to treatment with antidepressants, whose efficacy is questioned. A new trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, can improve symptoms of severe depression with a single dose, accompanied by therapy, with effects lasting up to 12 weeks.
How was it tested?
The trial involved taking a tablet of up to 25 mg of psilocybin, which put patients in a dreamlike state. In this state, neuroplasticity increases, that is, flexibility in the brain, which increases the chances of success of psychological therapy. The researchers, from King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, noted that most of the patients had been severely depressed for more than a year and were in their 40s.
After taking “psilocybin” and receiving psychotherapy, one in three patients went into remission, that is, they stopped having a diagnosis of depression three weeks after the single dose.
One in five experienced a significant improvement at 12 weeks, New York Times article that claims “psychedelic drugs are closer to medicinal use,” it seems that there is a renewed media and medical interest in acid (LSD), mushrooms (psilocybin), ecstasy (MDMA), ayahuasca, DMT (dimethyltryptamine), and ketamine.
How do psychedelics work?
According to Dr. Jerrold Rosenbaum, the director of the newly created Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics at Massachusetts General Hospital and former psychiatrist-in-chief at MGH, the short answer is, “Psychedelics induce the brain to change transiently in ways that appear to allow a reset to take place and permit alterations in previously ‘stuck’ ways of feeling and thinking about things.
Origin and properties of “Psilocybin”
“Psilocybin” is a psychedelic chemical found in over 100 species of mushrooms. It can also be produced synthetically in a lab. This psychedelic chemical found in these “magic mushrooms” has been used for religious and spiritual purposes over a millennia by indigenous peoples worldwide.
Western researchers grew hip to the compound’s potential in the 1950s and 1960s, studying psilocybin’s effect on brain function and as a therapeutic substance. This line of research is currently having a resurgence; psilocybin is now being studied, alongside psychotherapy, as a treatment for certain mental health disorders.
Now scientists in Europe and the US are beginning to realize what shamans have been saying for years. There is increasing evidence to suggest that some psychoactive substances have immense therapeutic potential, especially when it comes to addressing serious and difficult-to-manage mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcoholism, depression and eating disorders.
How does it work in eating disorders?
Binge eating is often seen as a type of loss of control eating disorder that is extremely socially limiting and causes feelings of guilt in the individual. These characteristics make it an ideal candidate for psilocybin therapy for eating disorders, as psilocybin has been shown to help other “loss of control” psychiatric problems such as OCD and alcoholism.
