Researchers Study The Use Of Psilocybin In Depression Treatments

How often do you experience negative thoughts clouding your mind? The psychedelic compound present in magic mushrooms aids in opening up a depressed person’s brain while ensuring they are less fixed in negative thinking patterns accounting for depression among various patients.

Recent research reports that the compound psilocybin makes your brain more flexible and able to work differently compared to regular antidepressants days after use. The study also denotes that psilocybin may be a feasible alternative to depression treatments.

Brain activity in depression can be more rigid and restricted while psilocybin can help your brain break free of the rut better than traditional treatments according to Prof David Nutt. Prof Robin Carhart-Harris supports that the effects of psilocybin are consistent across two studies relaying to people getting better weeks after treatment better than traditional medications.

Psilocybin is among psychedelics flagged as potential therapies for psychiatric disorders. The latest finding is based on analyses of brain scans from approximately sixty people under treatment for depression in a bid to untangle the workings of psilocybin on the brain.

Those responding to psilocybin-assisted therapies showed a surge in brain connectivity during and after treatment. The opening up effect was associated with those reporting recoveries in their depression resulting from various causes.

Changes in brain connectivity were not reported among patients treated with traditional antidepressants. The scientists remind patients that they shouldn’t focus on self-medication with psilocybin as experienced across the two studies. Modes of self-medication may include taking psilocybin or magic mushrooms in the absence of trial conditions.