Depression constitutes a challenge forpublic health, since its
prevalence is very high: the number of people who suffer from it throughout their lives is between 8% and 15%. 350 million people suffer from depression in the world. From pharmacological treatments to psychotherapy, through research and experimental therapies. In this sense, a new compound has emerged as the hope to treat severe depression. It is the hallucinogenic compound known as psilocybin, present in some species of mushrooms such as psilocybes or panaeolus , according to what has been published in ” The Lancet Psychiatry”.
In the middle of the last century, several researchers analyzed its properties and possible benefits for the modern world, although the expansion of its recreational use led to its illegalization, slowing down its study. A few years ago, research was resumed in patients with strong resistance to traditional treatment. Scientists have been able to verify that the compound psilocybin is well tolerated and safe , and what is more important, it helps to remit depressive symptoms in approximately half of the patients from 3 months after treatment.
If the trials worked in their last phase, there would be scientific proof that psychedelic experiencesof the Aztecs and the hippie movement could one day become a conventional medicine treatment.
HOW DOES IT WORK
At first, they were given a low dose of psilocybin to make sure they had no adverse reactions, but a week later they were given a higher dose. The test was carried out in a specially equipped room, with music and the presence of two psychiatrists to supervise everything. The psychedelic experience lasted five hours .
the drug is oral and that those six hours include the initial preparation, the hallucinatory experience itself and the subsequent ‘landing’ , helped by the two therapists, who have received special training.
the substance psilocybin, goes directly to the receptors in the brain responsible for collecting serotonin, in the same way as most antidepressants, but, and this is one of the advantages, it acts more quickly than traditional treatments due to its well-differentiated chemical structure of the rest of the current treatments.
“Psychedelic drugs have powerful psychological effects and only occur in our research, when there are guarantees, there is a careful strategy and professional therapeutic support,” says Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris , one of the doctors who are part of the research.
The most novel of the results is the rapid action of the ‘new drug’, which showed a palpable improvementin the symptoms of depression the day after the experience, something that does not happen with current antidepressants, which need between 6 and 8 weeks to improve four points on the Montgomery-Asberg scale.
In this context, its long-term effects are increased. At six weeks, the highest and lowest dose groups showed a difference of 6.6 points on this scale. At three months, 24.1% of patients in the 25-mg group maintained this improvement, compared to 10.1% in the 1-mg group . In the 10 mg group there was no significant difference with the latter.
ADVERSE EFFECTS
The first effects of psilocybin appeared among30 and 60 minutes after the intake of the doses, reaching the maximum period of psychoactivity at 2-3 hours. All effects disappeared by 6 hrs and no serious side effects were reported other than mild and transient paranoia in 2 of the patients and these subsided promptly. They will also experience mild symptoms such as headache, nausea, fatigue, or insomnia.
In this sense, speaking of adverse effects, experts warn”We wouldn’t want members of the public to think that they can treat their own depressions with hallucinogenic mushrooms. That kind of approach could be dangerous,” they explain. In fact, they point out that despite the fact that these drugs do not have a high addictive capacity and are administered at the hospital level, they are not harmless.
Therapists who prescribe and administer the drug must have specific training.“It has to be used in a very regulated environment and, if the therapeutic strategy is not very well studied, it can have significant risks . These substances must be administered in very special circumstances.”
