The Medical Use of Magic Mushrooms
SOME six years ago, on a dark autumn night, I stood in front of House of Shrooms, pale. The game had a space theme, with a detailed UFO in the center surrounded by a kaleidoscope of bright lights. I was shocked, but I did not know how to start. The hole for the coin machine and the glittering buttons were suddenly unexplained. As time went on and on, I was shocked to see a group of people at the bar staring at me, wondering what I was doing. That’s when I realized that the magic mushrooms were kicking.
Magic Mushrooms Begining
It was the first time I had taken hallucinogen since I was a child. At the time, when I was a university student, it was a mess. Now, for 40 years with my family, this idea was difficult. This trip, however, had a medical purpose: for almost two decades, I struggled with a rare disease known as cluster headaches. Cluster headaches are more severe than childbirth and kidney stones; they are sometimes called “suicidal head” because of the stress they experience. These headaches occur in groups — for me, occurring two or three times a day for weeks on end. Like migraines, it is difficult to treat. Over the years, I have visited dozens of neurologists, pathologists, acupuncturists, and naturalists. I took the instructions and tried to clean up and eat. Nothing works.
Second Destination
Then I came across Clusterbusters, a popular message board built by someone who owns it, where people around the world can exchange ideas. I was in the middle of a headache cycle at the time and I wanted to stop the pain. I contacted my longtime friend in Toronto, and shortly thereafter, we unloaded the dry, delicious mold on his newly renovated kitchen.
Mushrooms sprouted about an hour later, at that bar on Dundas Street. My memory of the whole night is not easy: we finally managed to play a piniball (bad), and then we left the bar to roam around Bloor West Village, which seemed to my eyes like a Tolkienesque country full of luxurious gingerbread houses. The journey took about six hours, after which I fell out of bed. When I woke up the next morning, I felt different: the mental fog brought to my head by the group was gone. For the next 12 months, I suffered from chronic headaches. Each year since then, I have reduced the amount of shrooms, and each year my team head has remained relaxed.
Therapeutic Benefits Of Psilocybin
My experience may be incomprehensible, but it is no different. Many recent studies have shown the potential therapeutic benefits of psilocybin, a psychotropic ingredient found in these mushrooms. Clinical trials successfully use psilocybin to treat drug addiction, PTSD, major depression, and, yes, joint pain. For those with certain medical conditions that are difficult to treat, psilocybin now offers a rare glimmer of hope. The catch, of course, is that something has long been illegal in Canada — and in many other countries. There is now growing pressure to legalize magic mushrooms for medicinal purposes, such as medical marijuana 20 years ago. But the movement slows down as questions persist about how psilocybin actually works in the body and mind and the risks associated with it.
Psilocybin Mushroom History
FOR many years people have been eating psilocybin mushrooms if they have not. There are more than 180 species of Psilocybin Mushroom with names like Liberty Caps (very common). Throughout the Americas, Native peoples have long used mushrooms for spiritual food and healing ceremonies. In the mid-1950’s, Americans began their journey to Mexico looking for the so-called holy mushrooms. Fungal treatments caught the attention of scientists, too. In 1960, the Harvard Psilocybin Project, led by Timothy Leary, launched a study of the psychological benefits of the drug.
Only a few years ago when the interest in psilocybin declined from the margins. Others, such as the independent start of UK health care Compass Pathways, have attracted prominent investors, including former Facebook supporter Peter Thiel. “Psychedelics Insert the Pot As Edgy’s Favorite New Investor,” announced a Bloomberg article last year. Check out mushroom powder here.
Psilocybin In treating Depression
Treating major depression with psilocybin seems to be the most promising of all the treatments. A paper recently published by Johns Hopkins University, for example, reported that two doses of psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced a rapid and significant reduction in depressive symptoms. “The magnitude of the effect we have seen is four times greater than that implied by clinical trials on traditional antidepressants on the market,” Alan Davis, one of the researchers, announced in a press release. Some researchers have suggested that a single dose of magical mushrooms can enhance a person’s spiritual well-being, willingness to forgive, and communication with others — all aspects of a happy, meaningful life.
However, it is not entirely clear how psilocybin works. The benefits seem to be related to the “inexplicable experience” produced by the drug — a state of hallucinations when one’s self-consciousness melts away. It is a process similar to hitting the reset button in the brain, sometimes called “death of the ego.” “Psychologically, it is about liberating the thought and feeling that, when directed through psychotherapy, it produces positive results,” Robin Carhart-Harris, head of the psychological research center at Imperial College London, told the Guardian. Participants in the Imperial College London study took psilocybin says that they are feeling more at the root of depression, Carhart-Harris said.
Headache Management
Research into the effects of the drug on group headache management is very early. Yale University began studying the effects of psilocybin on illness five years ago, partially inspired by unexplained reports by Clusterbusters. “It’s a conceptual study of that kind of confirmation, in a randomly controlled manner, that patients have been talking about for years,” he said.
Part of the objective of clinical trials, Schindler explains, is to better understand the side effects of the drug. “As long as you have all the safety precautions and permits in place, I don’t see [psilocybin] as different from studying any other drug,” Schindler said. “I think people are starting to see that.” However, for new researchers, getting permission to do clinical trials with psilocybin “can be a challenge,” he says. The negative burden of long traditions attached to psychedelics continues.
