Magic mushrooms’ seen to be effective in treating depression

[Serpo]

‘Magic mushrooms’ seen to be effective in treating depression, Brit studies show

Scientists wonder whether to use active ingredient psilocybin on patients in therapy

Comments (5) (http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/magic-mushrooms-effective-treating-depression-brit-studies-show-article-1.1010918?localLinksEnabled=false#commentpostform) By Lindsay Goldwert (http://www.nydailynews.com/authors?author=Lindsay%20Goldwert) / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, January 24 2012, 11:07 AM








http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1010917.1327421002%21/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/image.jpg Peter Dejong/AP

Mushrooms with the mind-altering substance psilocybin have been shown to be effective in treating depression.


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Scientists seeking new ways to treat depression are seeing magic in psychedelic mushrooms.
Psilocybin, the active ingredient in the druggy fungus, seems to affect the medial prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is hyperactive in people who suffer from depression, reports Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/23/us-magic-mushroom-idUSTRE80M2C620120123).
Mushrooms seem to work similarly to anti-depressant drugs like Prozac but with additional, mind-opening benefits.
Two British studies found that psilocybin affects the area of the brain that keeps the world orderly and prevents thing from appearing new and strange, allowing for “loosened” thoughts and keener experience of personal memories.
Study authors are pondering whether that the chemical could used on patients in addition to psychotherapy.
Scientists have been touting the mind-altering effects of psilocybin since the 1960s, claiming that it can cure everything from anxiety to cluster headaches.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION (http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/health-library?page=depression)
"We're not saying go out there and eat magic mushrooms," said study head Robin Carhart-Harris of Imperial College London's department of medicine. "But... this drug has such a fundamental impact on the brain that it's got to be meaningful — it's got to be telling us something about how the brain works.”
The federal government has yet to be impressed with the magic of mushrooms and has classified them as a Schedule 1 controlled substance with no currently accepted medical use.


http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/magic-mushrooms-effective-treating-depression-brit-studies-show-article-1.1010918?localLinksEnabled=false

[madfranks]

Someone I know is a big proponent of psilocybin mushrooms. He's not a druggie in the slightest, on the contrary is a family man and is a professional person, but he told me when he uses them that colors are brighter, jokes are funnier, music is deeper, the things we take for granted are appreciated, and overall it's a very refreshing, pleasing experience.


The federal government has yet to be impressed with the magic of mushrooms and has classified them as a Schedule 1 controlled substance with no currently accepted medical use

I personally find it quite ironic that someone (or a group of people) who has never used it can tell others who have used it that it has no benefit. If only one person in the entire world has experienced benefits from using psilocybin mushrooms, that's enough to disregard big brother's opinion.

[palani]

If only one person in the entire world has experienced benefits from using psilocybin mushrooms, that's enough to disregard big brother's opinion.

All FDA and criminal drug "laws" are based upon "man or other animals". This phrase comes with an automatic 1st amendment rebuttal should anyone choose to bring the matter up.

[Cebu_4_2]

Scientists wonder whether to use active ingredient psilocybin on patients in therapy

Now here is what the negative effects come from. Anytime they isolate a single chemical it is a drug with side effects, if you use the whole thing it most likely has zero side effects.

[Libertytree]

I can vouch personally for the OP's assertions, they helped me put things in perspective when things seemed out of kilter and well...depressing. It gave me a new outlook on things that I hadn't even remotely considered beforehand. Come to think of it...I might be about due 8)