Magic Mushrooms VS. Depression

 Depression: 

Sadness is a perfectly normal reaction to life’s struggles, setbacks, and disappointments. Many people use the word “depression” to explain these kinds of feelings, but depression is much more than just sadness.  Depression is the overwhelming feeling of sadness when everything in your life seems to be going right.  However,  individuals struggling with depression do not feel sad, instead they feel empty, lifeless, apathetic, or even angry, aggressive, and relentless. 

Whatever the symptoms, there is a very clear distinction between depression and a feeling of sadness. Depression negatively influences people's day to day lives as it interferes with their ability to work, study, sleep, eat, or even enjoy themselves. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and worthlessness are intense with little if any relief.

Over 3 million people suffer from depression in the United States alone. Depression is a mood disorder where one feels sad and experiences consistent loss of interest. Depression is treatable through a medical professional with a medical diagnosis. The reason as to why depression is so common is because the chemical imbalances a brain along with stressful life events are the perfect combination that causes people to develop depression.

Many of these stressful life events, such as losing a family member (aka: a loved one) happens all the time and is considered a part of life. Major depression can lead to a range of emotional and physical conditions. Individuals with major depression often are unable to sleep or concentrate on tasks. They also experience changes in appetite, decreased energy level, and thoughts of suicide. Medications (for example citalopram and paroxetine) that act on the chemical imbalance in the brain are also useful treatments for major depression.

Depression comes in many shapes and forms. The different types of depression have unique symptoms, causes, and effects. Knowing what type of depression you have can help you manage your symptoms and get the most effective treatment. It is normal, in life, to feel sad and happy according to whatever is happening during different periods of a lifespan. It is when feelings of hopelessness, isolation and despair paralyze an individual from living a healthy normal life that is what living with depression feels like. No matter how hopeless one feels, anyone can get better. Understanding the signs, symptoms, causes, and treatment of depression is the first step to overcoming the problem.

Types of Depression:

Major depression is characterized by the inability to enjoy life and experience pleasure. The symptoms of major depression are constant, ranging from moderate to severe. Left untreated, major depression typically lasts for about six months. Some people experience just a single depressive episode in their lifetime, but more commonly, major depression is a recurring disorder. Recurring mild depression is known as Dysthmia. Individuals who suffer from dysthmia feel moderately depressed most days with brief periods of normal mood.

Symptoms are not as severe as major depression, but it's symptoms tend to last much longer. It is very possible for people to experience major depression as well as dysthmia at the same time. This is known as 'double depression'. Many who struggle with dysthmia feel as though they have always suffered with depression or believe that this 'continuous depressed state' is normal. Dysthmia can in fact be treated even if the individual has not been diagnosed and treated for many years.

Cyclic mood changes called 'episodes' that vary from severe depression alternating to manic (euphoric) are characteristic of bipolar disorder (aka: manic depression). Because episodes tend to alternate, many tend to develop impulsive behaviors, hyperactivity, rapid speech, and a minimum to no sleep. Usually the altering of these two extreme moods is gradual. Each manic or depressive episode last only for several weeks. When depressed, a person with bipolar disorder exhibits the usual symptoms of major depression.

Symptoms: 

There are many symptoms to look out for to know if you are suffering from depression. A feeling of hopelessness/helplessness where an overwhelming feeling that nothing will get better and that there is nothing to do to change it. Losing interest in daily activities such as hobbies, past times, and any form of social life. Many times this is associated with losing the ability to feel joy and pleasure. Weight and appetite fluctuations are a big red flag for depression.

Inability to sleep, insomnia, or waking early and even oversleeping are signs of depression. Feeling fatigued, sluggish, and physically drained. When the whole body feels so heavy that performing daily tasks are exhausting and take longer to complete.Feelings of agitation, restlessness, or even violent behavior indicating a low tolerance level, very short temper, and everyone/everything anger you.

Self loathing is also a symptom where an individual has very strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. Difficulty in concentrating, making decisions, or remembering things are also common in have a loved one with depression, take any suicidal talk or behavior seriously and learn to recognize the warning signs. Extreme cases of depression, individuals will feel as though their lives are not worth living and is a major risk factor for suicide.

Introduction:

Magic mushrooms have lifted severe depression in a dozen volunteers in a clinical trial, raising scientists’ hopes that the psychedelic experiences beloved of the Aztecs and the hippy counter-culture of the 1970s could one day become mainstream medicine. According to what history tells us, humans have been consuming psychedelic mushrooms for thousands of years. However, it wasn't until the 1950s that scientists began examining psilocybin and its possible therapeutic properties.

In the first theory, the memory of the “trip” — which can be a profound and extremely meaningful experience — could have a strong psychological effect on people, lifting their moods for months at a time. Alternatively, there may be a biological explanation: It’s possible the binding of psilocin to the serotonin receptor sets off a cascade of yet-unknown chemical reactions that persist for weeks or months.

  Magic Mushrooms:

Magic mushrooms are known to cause the mind to experience a recreational hallucinogen effect. Studies have recently shown that these mushrooms can have a powerful pharmaceutical effect for people diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression. Mushrooms from the genus Psilocybe contain psilocybin which is broken down by the human body into psilocin.

This psychedelic substance then crosses the blood-brain barrier and binds to a specific serotonin receptor known as 5-HT2A. A great change in consciousness occurs that is describe by people as a mystical event, a spiritual journey, or  a 'trip'. Psychedelic compounds in LSD, ayahuasca, and mescaline bind to this same receptor. (A)

It is illegal to buy Psilocybin for personal use in US and is subsequently extremely difficult in obtaining psilocybin for research studies. If the results from this pilot study show positive results, patients suffering from severe depression will be able to take doses of psilocybin with psychological support after they have been screened thoroughly and properly for the treatment.

The ultimate goal is to treat patients whose symptoms can be decreased through treatment-resistant depression at least temporarily for now. There definitely needs to be much more research before this treatment can be used safely and properly by the 15.7 million people who are struggling with depression. Once psilocybin becomes FDA approved, it is predicted that this will be the new treatment for depression. (A)

Research: Study No. 1: 

Six men and six women with chronic, treatment-resistant, moderate to severe major depression consented to take two different doses of psilocybin (10 mg and 25 mg), separated by one week. There was no control group, and the participants and in what’s called an “open label trial,” the investigators all knew that they were either taking or administering psilocybin. During the dosing sessions, participants relaxed on a bed in a room with dim lighting and listened to music through earphones. Supervisors monitored their blood pressure, heart rate and the psychoactive effects of the compound intermittently for up to six hours after they took the pills, while psychiatrists offered support but mostly let patients have their own “inner journey,” as the study put it, without interruptions. (A)

Results:

None of the participants experienced serious or unexpected negative side effects that required medical intervention from the dosing, though some reported mild anxiety, confusion, nausea or headache. The psychedelic effects peaked about two to three hours after dosing and then became negligible after about six hours. Most significantly, eight of the 12 patients responded extremely well to the psilocybin, meeting the criteria for remission from depression one week after the two treatments. After three months, five of them remained in remission, while another two continued to show improvement in their depression symptoms compared to baseline. Overall, all 12 patients showed at least some improvement in their symptoms for up to three weeks after the dose. (A)

The results seem promising, but there are some caveats. The overall positive response to the dosing treatment could in part be chalked up to the fact that the participants actively sought out the psilocybin trial and were probably expecting the medicine to work on some level, creating a bias in favor of the intervention. Indeed, five of the participants had already tried psilocybin at least once — one just six months before the experiment, others ranging from 14 to 48 years prior. His past experience with a drug and its presumed positive effects could increase suggestibility and expectancy in people, which could affect the results. Double-blind trials in which neither patient nor therapist knows which intervention they received or administered, as well as the inclusion of a control group, could address these issues in future experiments. (A)

Concluding Remarks:

These results gives hope for people with depressive symptoms for treatment-resistant depression which is a condition that does not respond to traditional antidepressant medication and therapy. Before the experiment, participants of the study reported that they had tried at least two courses of traditional antidepressants that were unsuccessful for them. Eleven of these participants received some kind of psychotherapy where the average amount of years of psychotherapy for depression was 18 years.

 

Because depression can be so chronic and relentless the possibility of psilocyin could soon be the huge shift in psycho-pharmacological treatment for depression. Especially since it works so quickly and the length of time it worked. The trips can sometimes be negative and extremely scary for some people and patients with treatment-resistant depression seeking psychological insight with a less exciting trajectory might consider the slow route offered by traditional dynamic psychotherapy.

 

Links:
(A) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/magic-mushrooms-show-promise-in-first-ever-depression-treatment-trial_us_573a5c2be4b077d4d6f3d5fd
(B)https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/17/magic-mushrooms-lift-severe-depression-in-clinical-trial
(C)https://projecthelping.org/the-symptoms/
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