Magic Mushrooms have a rich history. Since the 1950s and ¡®60s, researchers have been studying psilocybin, a naturally-occurring psychoactive and hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms.
But what was considered a taboo back then, is now being looked upon with a fresh lens--one that considers the use of psychedelics for psychological therapy.
ALSO READ:?Rare "Electric Mushrooms" Found In Meghalaya, So Bright That Locals Use It As Natural Torches
And now a small, early-stage study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has suggested that the psychedelic drug psilocybin is as effective as one of the leading antidepressants in treating moderate-to-severe depressive disorder.
Over the six-week trial, 30 out of 59 adults with moderate-to-severe depression were given two 25mg doses of psilocybin three weeks apart as well as daily placebo capsules over the entire period.
ALSO READ:?Some Fun Facts About Mushrooms We Bet You Didn't Know
The other 29 participants were given two doses of psilocybin three weeks apart--a dose so low as to be classed as a non-active and unlikely to have an effect--as well as six weeks of daily escitalopram capsules.
After the end of the six-week period, both groups showed, on average, a decrease in the severity of depressive symptoms, but the reductions occurred more quickly in the psilocybin group and were greater in magnitude.
¡°These results comparing two doses of psilocybin therapy with 43 daily doses of one of the best performing SSRI antidepressants help contextualise psilocybin¡¯s promise as a potential mental health treatment. Remission rates were twice as high in the psilocybin group than the escitalopram group,¡± said Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, head of the centre for psychedelic research at Imperial College London and a co-author of the study.
ALSO READ:?At Rs 30,000 A Kilogram, This Himalayan Mushroom Is The Most Expensive Vegetable In The World
¡°One of the most important aspects of this work is that people can clearly see the promise of properly delivered psilocybin therapy by viewing it compared with a more familiar, established treatment in the same study. Psilocybin performed very favourably in this head-to-head,¡± he added.
However, the study, carried out by researchers at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, that statistics don't really matter in this comparison, and that larger trials with more patients over a longer period are needed to show if psilocybin can perform as well as, or more effectively than an established antidepressant.
¡°These findings provide further support for the growing evidence base that shows that in people with depression, psilocybin offers an alternative treatment to traditional antidepressants,¡± said David Nutt, principal investigator on the study.
ALSO READ:?Made From Magic Mushrooms, Most Effective Drug Against Depression Starts Human Trial In US
¡°In our study, psilocybin worked faster than escitalopram and was well tolerated, with a very different adverse effects profile. We look forward to further trials, which if positive should lead to psilocybin becoming a licensed medicine.¡±
The authors also warned patients with depression not to attempt self-medication with psilocybin and stress that taking magic mushrooms or psilocybin in the absence of these careful safeguards might not have a positive outcome.
¡°Context is crucial for these studies and all volunteers received therapy during and after their psilocybin sessions,¡± said Dr Rosalind Watts, clinical lead of the trial and formerly based at the Centre for Psychedelic Research. ¡°Our team of therapists were on hand to offer full support through sometimes difficult emotional experiences.¡±