In a study published by review New England Journal of Medicine, scientists believe that psilocybin, a molecule found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, could help treat depressive disorders.
The idea is not to shoot the patient, far from it. This molecule has been compared to the effectiveness of common antidepressants. The objective is to free the thought, but that is not enough, psychotherapy must accompany it, specify the researchers.
More patients in remission
Concretely, the clinical trial was spread over a period of six weeks, on 59 people. One group was treated with very low doses of psilocybin and antidepressants the rest of the time, and the other took twice 25 milligrams of the molecule, with placebos the rest of the time. For this second group, hallucinogenic effects are observed when taking, for several hours. In parallel, they all do psychotherapy sessions, the day after taking the molecule.
The effect of the molecule is interesting, especially because by comparing the classic method to taking psilocybin, we see that the participants in the clinical trial are more aware of the reasons that plunge them into depression. On the other hand, the group treated with the highest doses of psilocybin estimated 57% in remission at the end of the period, against 28% in the other.
Several studies with similar results
This study is carried out on a very small number of participants. But this isn’t the first time the hallucinogenic molecule has been tested, and this latest study echoes other similar observations about its effectiveness against depression. In 2017, scientists from Imperial College of London published an investigation titled “Magic mushrooms could reformat the brains of depressed patients.” In November 2020, it is review Jama Network which displayed a study on psylocybin, again conclusive.
Sources : New England Journal of Medicine, Imperial College of London, Jama Network
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