As someone with depression, personally I wouldn't recommend mushrooms to others in a similar situation. I've tried them once and it was a rather uncomfortable experience. In fact, a quote from the acticle describes my experience fairly well - "When suffering depression, people get stuck in a spiral of negative thoughts and cannot get out of it". This does tend to describe my thought process in general, but this was exacerbated on mushrooms. I had little control over my thought process, which made me anxious, which made the experience harder to deal with. Although, when considering certain personal issues at the time which would normally cause me anxiety, they did feel much less significant.
That said, I've heard many stories of people experiencing life changing epiphanies from mushroom trips as described in the article, and I am intrigued by articles like this and the science behind it. Perhaps my environment, or the specific mushrooms I tried made it worse. Also, having tried them once and come out the other end fine may make future experiences less uncomfortable - a large part of what made it difficult was a concern that my mental state would be permanently affected by the experience, and this was not the case. Still, it makes me less inclined to try them again until I'm in a better mental state.
For what it's worth, these were the variety of "magic truffles" which are legal and readily obtainable from high street stores in Amsterdam, but as far as I'm aware the active ingredient is the same psilocybin as other forms of magic mushrooms. I wasn't on any medication at the time, though I have heard of certain anti-depressants and other medication either having a negative effect, or negating the effects of mushrooms entirely.
For serious treatment, the drug should be taken as part of a psychological therapy - in the right setting, with the right preparation and assistance. As a matter of fact, the author is advocating to make medical research easier, not that people take it at random and hope for a miracle ;)
Similar experience. I have taken mushrooms on a handful of occasions during a prolonged period of sadness and disappointment where I was not coping too well with life. Not a pleasant experience at all. Wasn't using any other drugs or medication. I wouldn't recommend it. I don't think the experiences helped at all. Genuinely disturbing and uncomfortable and seemed to drag on for way too long.
Other times, when the circumstances of my life have felt more secure and stable and my mental state is more robust mushrooms have been amazing experiences.
Perhaps mushrooms have potential benefit for some conditions under some circumstances. I support the idea of more medical research, for sure.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I like seeing this anecdote because I've seen a tonne of "this stuff (probably) works" and not enough of the other side. Psilocybin needs to be tested and studied, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend that people with depression jump on the bandwagon.
Psilocybin has been a huge help for me. Now, the first time I decided to take it I was indeed uncomfortable. However I soon realized that I was facing my own fears and anxiety. After a while I found that my depression was considerably less and less.
Marijuana has helped tremendously, also, with anxiety.
As with all medicine. Therefore it needs to be done with carefully measured dosages under controlled circumstances so that any harmful side effects can be nipped in the bud.
> was a concern that my mental state would be permanently affected by the experience,
Yup, that's the beginner's curse. Every single person I know who ever tried potent psychoactive substances had this experience at least once. My worst was when I didn't know that the drug I took lasts for several days. Waking up the next day after the trip and realizing I am still not my regular self was a lot more terrifying then the violent hallucinations I had the day before.
Aprophene (Taren), a soviet drug seemingly unknown outside of ex-USSR. It was included in the standard civil defense medkit as an antidote against some specific group of chemicals. The most famous substance in the same pharmacological group is Datura the effects of which also last for several days, or so I heard.
Psychedelics have a tendency to amplify whatever is already going on in your mind. If you're already feeling depressed or anxious you can be in for a bad time. Sometimes they can help you work through things like this. But I've had more than a few friends with predispositions to depression or mental illness take a bad turn after experimenting with mind-altering drugs.
I strongly advise caution to anyone trying to self-medicate like this.
I think the amplification and come-down cycle is probably the most reliable lesson of psychedelics. Once you've experienced the caricature of yourself, you begin to look differently on the composition of thoughts and feelings that is your ordinary mental life.
Seems like interest in potential beneficial effects of hallucinogens has been rising. It's certainly true for ketamine, as it's being studied as a therapy for treatment resistant depression. The results look promising but the jury is still out re: satisfying FDA approval requirements.
As the article says, psilocybin could have favorable effects in depression, possibly resembling results with ketamine. Other hallucingenics are often mentioned in this regard, like LSD or mescaline. There have been reports of utility of low dose THC for depression.
In discussions of potential value of any drug the pivotal issue is the risk/benefit ratio. Hallucinogens have unmistakably caused adverse reactions. Panic, psychosis, dissociative states have been observed often enough to warrant a high level of caution in using such drugs.
Part of the problem is the randomness of bad reactions. It's usually difficult to predict which users (or subsets of users) will endure adverse effects at a particular drug dose. Drug interactions is another concern. A great deal of study is necessary to sort out the parameters of (relatively) safe use.
There are a few non-hallucinogenic and non-sedative derivatives of ketamine being studied at the moment as antidepressants. Anecdotes of their use seem to be positive, but of course those should be taken with a grain of salt. See LongeCity's Brain Health forum for some crazy threads relating to this.[0]
On another note, this summer I experimented with NSI-189[1] for depression to great effect. It's a hippocampal neurogenic agent currently prepping for phase 2 trials. I found that its antidepressant effects over a one-month cycle were remarkably similar to my single psilocybin experience a few years back. Specifically, they both (or rather, I) exhibited two characteristics:
(a) "Illuminating" rather than the "dulling" of traditional antidepressants. A feeling of irrational filters being lifted from all my senses and the cognitive functions directly adjacent to them. It doesn't feel like a band-aid like tricyclics and SSRIs do. It feels like a realization that the depression is a lie, that it doesn't reflect the actual state of the world.
(b) Persistence of the effect long after the chemical was no longer in my system. Where "long" was approximately two years for the psilocybin, and I'm coming up on four months after cessation of the NSI-189 with not just steady benefits but continuous improvement. This matches the results found in the Phase 1b trial.[2]
Now I haven't gotten an MRI to see if my hippocampus has grown to an abnormal size, like was found in an early mouse study, but my experience has made me extremely optimistic for the next ten years of antidepressant research. I'm fairly certain we'll be able to narrow down the exact mechanisms by which psychedelics alleviate depression and isolate them from the permanent destructive potential of most psychedelics.[3]
[1] It is currently not being sold, and its patent-holder Neuralstem is being quite threatening toward would-be vendors. There is nothing illegal about purchasing it, but it would be difficult for anyone in the US without indirect access to a quality Asian synth lab and a domestic third party testing facility.
[3] I should mention that though I'm comparing NSI-189 to traditional psychedelics in this comment, it doesn't actually have any major immediate effects. Common anecdotal effects include heightened taste and smell, back-of-skull pressure/ache and mild parasthesia. A couple instances of major, painful parasthesia in individuals with previous nerve damage. But no headspace, no high, no rush, no immediate feeling that you're taking a drug at all, and the antidepressant effects do not reveal themselves for at least a week.
No, there are various online communities for experimental, legal drug use, each with their own themes and safety guidelines that depend on the users' goals. Overseas labs are not too hard to come by, but language barriers and repeated shoddy synthesis (see also: Alibaba) can raise the effective cost by orders of magnitude. Then it's worth your while to get the sample independently tested after importation. This, combined with significant economies of scale, leads to group buys being a common method of acquiring substances. One trusted person who has contacts and a history with known quality labs (who often ask not to be revealed to the whole group, especially if they're in Europe) is chosen to organize the money, make the purchase, having preliminary testing done, repackage into each person's order, and ship them the rest of the way.
I neglected to mention precisely how I acquired it because, as mentioned, Neuralstem is not joking around. (It wasn't as a group buy.) They do not have any existing treatments on the market and currently have just two in human trials: NSI-189, an antidepressant and ostensibly nootropic, and NSI-566, a stem cell treatment for ALS. It's not surprising that they're freaked out by use of one of these treatments years before it could ever be approved as a pharmaceutical.
I tried Psilocybin recently, with intent to see what changes the experience might make to my mood and mental outlook. My trip was quite uncomfortable, as others have related. I'm glad I tried mushrooms, however.
Upon return to this astral plan I was immensely grateful for sanity and the little pocket of warmth in time and space that is our existence. In the days since I have found my mood to be better.
My Psilocybin trip was an almost terrifying experience that served as a good reset. I will definitely consider repeating this on a periodic basis if needed, being most respectful of the dark power these little fungi possess.
It is sad that most of such research (on psychoactives, etc.) is happening in the UK, and not the US (which has a lot more resources). Our Drug War(TM) at work.
Aside: "... Paul Expert at King’s College London ..." : this guy was born to be a researcher. :-D
Mushrooms are not for the faint of heart. Generally, they will cause extreme anxiety in those who are naturally prone to it, possibly to the breaking point -- especially if in a public or unfamiliar setting. However, the drug itself is highly psychoactive and can truly lead to some amazing revelations about life in general, that break through the shroud of depression.
>Generally, they will cause extreme anxiety in those who are naturally prone to it, possibly to the breaking point
Generally? No.
I've taken and been around people who have taken mushrooms for over 15 years. I still dabble on occasion. I've never seen or even heard of someone reaching a "breaking point". This is not to say that it can't happen, but saying that mushrooms will do it, generally, must be supported.
That said, mushrooms are no fooling around. If you have no experience with "being high", and the altered mental state that that entails, I would never recommend diving into multi-gram does of 'shrooms. Once you've had some experience, it's much easier to tell yourself, "I'm high, this will pass. Enjoy it."
I tired them in Bali last year (they have been made illegal since then) and I thought my mood was slightly changed for a few days. I did not get some large effect, but there was some minor effect. Mostly I felt happily drunk.
I have battled depression for years, and while I would agree that there was some minor uplift, it was not a major change in my case.
The most interesting thing to me was the importance of ritual in the trials. Bad experiences might be linked to a defficient or lacking framework-- the power of expectation and psycho social cues perhaps being undervalued in all sorts of treatments.
That said, I've heard many stories of people experiencing life changing epiphanies from mushroom trips as described in the article, and I am intrigued by articles like this and the science behind it. Perhaps my environment, or the specific mushrooms I tried made it worse. Also, having tried them once and come out the other end fine may make future experiences less uncomfortable - a large part of what made it difficult was a concern that my mental state would be permanently affected by the experience, and this was not the case. Still, it makes me less inclined to try them again until I'm in a better mental state.
For what it's worth, these were the variety of "magic truffles" which are legal and readily obtainable from high street stores in Amsterdam, but as far as I'm aware the active ingredient is the same psilocybin as other forms of magic mushrooms. I wasn't on any medication at the time, though I have heard of certain anti-depressants and other medication either having a negative effect, or negating the effects of mushrooms entirely.