Psilocybin, a hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms, may offer a potential new way to study antidepressants, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Psychiatry.
A small feasibility study of 12 people with treatment-resistant depression found psilocybin to be safe and well-tolerated, and when combined with maintenance therapy, helped reduce depressive symptoms in about half of the participants.
You may buy mushrooms online in Canada. Depression is a foremost public health problem, affecting millions of people worldwide. The most common treatments for depression are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and antidepressants.
However, every fifth patient with depression was unresponsive to intervention and relapsed frequently.
"Previous animal and human imaging studies have shown that psilocybin may have effects similar to other antidepressants," said Professor David Nat, senior author at Imperial College London.
"Psilocybin, like that, targets serotonin receptors in the brain." make up most of the antidepressants, but have a completely different chemical structure from the antidepressants available today and work faster than conventional antidepressants. ""
The study included 12 patients (6 women, 6 men) with moderate to severe depression (mean duration of illness was 17.8 years).
The psychedelic effect of psilocybin is noted 30 to 60 minutes after taking the capsule. The psychedelic effect peaked after 2-3 hours and the patient was discharged 6 hours later.
No serious side effects were reported and expected side effects included transient anxiety before or with the onset of psilocybin effects.