Mushroom For Depression: Can It Treat The Symptoms?

First Posted: May 18, 2016 06:53 AM EDT
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Mushroom for depression has been discovered following a study in patients with such condition. A hallucinogenic chemical found in magic mushrooms provides a potential cure for untreatable depression, according to reports.

The mushroom for depression were given to patients with depressive disorder, who later found to no longer exhibit the symptoms. In addition, the findings also revealed that five patients did not experience depression for three months. However, some medical experts are careful in accepting the findings, looking at it as promising yet not generally compelling. Nonetheless, there have been calls already to test the drug in bigger trials.

Mushroom for  depression was studied at the Imperial College London, giving the patients a low dosage of psilocybin, a hallucinogenic chemical found in the mushrooms, to check the safety.  Later, a very high dosage was administered to them, which is equivalent to a large amount of mushrooms. Based on the findings, the patients had a psychedelic experience that lasted for up to six hours. The experience reached its peak following the first two. Classical music was provided as well as psychological help, Telegraph reported.

According to researcher Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, the patients' psilocybin experience may be profound since people have spiritual and mystical type of experiences.  Dr. Cahart-Harris also said that majority of the patients had the rapid dip in their depressive signs, including predictable side effects like nausea, anxiety and headaches. The researcher further stated that the positive effects are very promising in the treatment of depression. However, he also noted the need for a larger trial to further understand if the effects that have been observed could turn into a long-term cure.

Mushroom for depression's psilocybin targets the brain's receptors, which usually responds to the  hormone serotonin that is involved in mood. Researcher Prof David Nutt noted that thoughts can be kept in too much negative and self-critical mode in depression. Hence, the drug worked as the mind lubricant that frees the patient, according to Time.

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