Psychedelic Mushroom Dose Can Treat Stubborn Depression, Trial Suggests

The Washington Post reports:Psilocybin, the active hallucinogen found in psychedelic mushrooms - also known as "magic mushrooms" - can effectively alleviate a severe bout of depression when administered in a single dose and combined with talk therapy, a new clinical study found. Adults with depression who were administered a single 25-miligram dose of psilocybin were more likely to experience significant improvements in their mental health - both immediately and for up to three months - than others who were randomly assigned smaller doses of the same drug, said the peer-reviewed study, which was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.... The trial's findings could be an encouraging sign for the 16 million Americans estimated each year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to have depression, many of whom struggle to find treatments that work for them. Its authors hope the study - which was relatively small, with just 79 participants receiving the 25 mg dose - will pave the way for eventual regulatory approval of psilocybin by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a drug against depression.... Notwithstanding the headaches, nausea and dizziness reported by many as adverse side effects, most of the adults enjoyed the experience. The Post got an interesting reponse from James Rucker, a consultant psychiatrist at King's College London who worked on the trial. He said there's something about the psychedelic experience that leads to a rapid resolution of depression symptoms, adding "We don't really know what that is at the moment, but it's very different to standard antidepressants...." "What people forget about psychedelics is that they were being used as medicines prior to 1971 when they essentially got caught up in the drugs war," Rucker added. "We're just picking up the baton of history." Thanks to Slashdot reader Shmoodling for submitting the story.

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