heir safety, efficacy, and mechanisms of action. You can read more about this topic in these articles: How Magic Mushrooms Can Fix Depression, Mushrooms for Depression? The Pros & CThere is an urgent need for effective depression treatments for the 21 million adults in the US (8 percent) who experience depression each year; the numbers are even higher for females (over 10 percent) and people 18 to 25 years of age (over 18 percent). In addition to the suffering depression causes, it often leads to major life disruptions, such as missed work, strained relationships, and substance use disorders. ons Revealed, Back to the future: Psychedelic drugs in psychiatry.

I have been suffering from depression for a long time, and nothing seemed to help me. I tried different medications, therapies, and lifestyle changes, but nothing made me feel better. I felt hopeless, numb, and isolated. Then I heard about psilocybin mushrooms, and how they could help people with treatment-resistant depression. I was curious and desperate, so I decided to give them a try.Psilocybin 

I took a moderate dose of psilocybin mushrooms in a safe and comfortable setting, with a trusted friend as a guide. I was nervous at first, but soon I felt a wave of relaxation and peace wash over me. I started to see colors more vividly, and shapes more clearly. I felt a whole body tingle.

Psilocybin mushrooms are not a magic cure for depression, and they should be used with caution and under medical supervision. More research is needed to understand their safetyHow Magic Mushrooms Can Fix Depression, Mushrooms for Depression? The Pros & Cons Revealed, Back to the future: Psychedelic drugs in psychiatry

A large team of researchers across 11 sites in the US recruited 104 participants with mild to moderate depression. They excluded people with a history of psychosis or mania, more than a mild current substance use problem, and active suicidal intent. Those on medication for depression gradually tapered off the drug before the treatment phase of the study.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a synthetic form of psilocybin (51 people) or niacin, the control condition (53). The control allowed researchers to see whether psilocybin had an effect beyond the placebo response, which tends to be strong in depression treatment; niacin was chosen because the acute physiological response it causes (flushing) would make it harder for participants to know for sure which treatment they had received.

Trained facilitators guided all participants through a 7- to 10-hour session in which they received their dose of either niacin or psilocybin; both participants and facilitators were blind to treatment condition to isolate the actual treatment effect, versus the expectancies of those involved. The clinicians who evaluated participants’ depression symptoms and other variables were also blind to the treatment condition.

At the same time, psilocybin allows your brain to create new patterns of activity. Zemon compared brain activity in depression to skiing down a mountain over and over in the same tracks. Eventually “you can’t get to the other side of the run because of the deep ruts your skis have worn into the snow,” he explained. Psilocybin “puts a fresh coat of powder on the mountain, and allows neurons to fire that haven’t fired together maybe since you were a child.” As a result, “the brain is activated in a way that it’s not normally activated,” Zemon said. One of the most powerful changes may be greater hope, since depression so often is associated with hopelessness. Taken together, these brain changes and subjective experiences “can allow people to heal in ways that traditional talk therapy and other existing pharmacological solutions” aren’t able to, according to Zemon.