Can Magic Mushrooms Help Stop Depression?

Although psychadelic drugs are largely recreational these days, scientists are looking into potential therapeutic uses -- especially in patients for whom nothing else works. Learn how psilocybin may fight depression in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey there,
brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. Depression treatment is better
now than ever before, thanks to a variety of prescription
drug options and improved therapy techniques, but in some cases
these proven therapies fall short. However, magic mushrooms just might
be the key to giving those with depressions some much

(00:23):
needed relief, according to a recent study by researchers at
Imperial College London published in the journal Scientific Reports. The
albeit small study looked at the effects of psilocybin on
nineteen patients for whom conventional depression therapies failed. Psilocybin is
the psychoactive compound that is naturally present in two hundred
types of magic mushrooms. The researchers described the results as

(00:45):
rapid and sustained. In fact, within weeks, the patients reported
fewer depression symptoms, with several of them describing a brain reset.
This reportedly lasts for up to five weeks post treatment.
Other studies have shown positive effects from using LSD and
m d M a, the act of ingredient in ecstasy,
to treat some mental illnesses, but this is the first
study to look at the effect of psilocybin on depression.

(01:08):
Dr Robin Carhart Harris, head of psychedelic research at Imperial
and leader of the study, said in a press release
we have shown for the first time clear changes in
brain activity and depressed people treated the psilocybin after failing
to respond to conventional treatments. Several of our patients described
feeling reset after the treatment and often used computer analogies.

(01:28):
For example, one set he felt like his brain had
been defragged like a computer hard drive, and another set
he felt rebooted. Psilocybin maybe giving these individuals the temporary
kickstart they need to break out of their depressive states,
and these imaging results do tentatively support a reset analogy.
Similar brain effects to these have been seen with electric
convulsive therapy, which by the way, is not as scary

(01:50):
as it looks in movies and can be a real
help to those for whom other therapies don't work. In
the study, participants were given two doses of psilocybin a
week apart. Functional MRI s done after each dose showed
reduced blood flow in certain areas of the brain, particularly
the amygdala, which is credited with processing fear, stress and
emotional responses. Greater stability in a different brain network was

(02:11):
also revealed. The tests appear to show that people undergo
a temporary disintegration of brain networks during a trip, but
reintegration follows soon after. Psilocybin has been used for medicinal
purposes for centuries and became a popular recreational drug beginning
in the nineteen sixties. Researchers warned that people should not
attempt to self medicate, as the experimental treatment was conducted

(02:32):
in tandem with other therapy. They also note these small
size of the study group and the absence of a
control group as cautions before making applications to the general population. However,
the study author's right accumulating evidence suggests that psilocybin with
accompanying psychological support can be used safely to treat a
range of psychiatric conditions, including end of life anxiety and depression,

(02:53):
alcohol and tobacco addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder, and, most recently
from our group, treatment resistant major to ossion. They planned
test psilocybin against a major antidepressant in another trial. Despite
these positive results, psilocybin can also cause some pretty crazy
side effects, like panic attacks, paranoia, strange reactions and outbursts. Also,

(03:14):
eating the wrong mushroom to get high may result in poisoning,
so seriously, don't undertake this treatment on your own. Today's
episode was written by Alia Hoyt and produced by Tristan McNeil.
For more on this and lots of other psychedelic topics,
visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com