That’s some tongue twister eh?
Well the rest of this topic has got nothing to with either magic or brain exercise but does deal with how a chemical component along with therapy could alleviate depression.
Psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin have a reputation more as a party drug than as forms of therapeutic medication, but are indeed like how many do not know can be used to affect our perception, mess with our state of consciousness and as a result could help treat various psychiatric conditions (which absolutely does not mean smoking pot is a good thing).
In a recent review by researchers in California has shown such a notion is not an outlier, and their analysis of seven clinical trials conducted over the past decade testing the effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy on anxiety, depressive disorders, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder has shown the drug to block problematic networks in the brain while therapy can be used to create more functional ones.
This study follows a separate research conducted mid-last year by arguably the most respected institutions up to this point, showed that psilocybin, a compound within “magic mushrooms”, can be effective in treating depression and anxiety
in cancer patients.The study was carried out on 29 patients by researchers at New York University (NYU) and on 51 patients at Johns Hopkins University.
The results were highly promising as around 80% of the cancer patients in the study got noticeably better after just one dose. And they sustained the psychological gains they made for up to seven months, with few minor side effects. Patients reported improvements in their quality of life, having more energy, going out more and having better relationships with family members.
A separate study by the Beckley Foundation and Imperial Research Programme in London found that psilocybin could help people with treatment-resistant depression.
“Psilocybin-assisted therapy has been shown to be safe in several studies across a variety of patient populations,” says researcher Kelan Thomas of Touro University California.
“One important distinction from these other session-based treatments would be that the benefits of psilocybin-assisted therapy may only require a few dosing sessions and the effects appear to persist longer than other treatment options,” the researchers write in their report.
Compared with other forms of treatment on validated psychiatric rating scales, therapy with psilocybin has resulted in a larger effect, suggesting it could be a better option for many patients, especially those who have failed to respond to other medications or procedures. Changing attitudes and laws towards cannabis as a valid treatment could well open the way for other psychoactive substances to be seen in a new light.
