Research finds Class A psychedelic substance curbs depression symptoms for up to three months

A STUDY into the use of magic mushrooms in which patients were given a recreational dose of the active ingredient psilocybin has found something amazing.

MAGIC mushrooms have been used to successfully treat people suffering depression.

Patients were given a recreational dose of the active ingredient psilocybin, which is a Class A psychedelic substance.

Researchers found 25mg of psilocybin — equivalent to at least five shrooms — could fight off symptoms for more than three months.

Patients reported “mystical or spiritual-type experiences” as they “tripped” on the drug, scientists from Imperial College London report.

Study author Amanda Feilding said the findings were a massive breakthrough.

“For the first time in many years, people who were at the end of the road with currently available treatments reported decreased anxiety, increased optimism and an ability to enjoy things,” she said.

“This is an unparalleled success and could revolutionise the treatment of depression.”

The pilot trial tested the drug in 12 patients with moderate to severe treatment-resistant depression, meaning they had failed to respond to two courses of antidepressants.

They were aged from 30 to 64 and had suffered an average of 18 years of depression, with no history of suicide attempts or psychosis.

The six men and six women were given a safety dose of 10mg of psilocybin to check for unintended reactions before returning one week later to take the stronger 25mg dose.

Magic Mushrooms contain the active ingredient psilocybin, which is a Class A psychedelic substance.

They were monitored at all times by two members of clinical staff, and took the Home Office approved pills while listening to soothing music.

Every participant experienced a reduction in symptoms a week after taking the drug, The Lancet Psychiatry Journal reports.

Eight of the 12 achieved full remission after a week and were temporarily liberated from their demons.

And three months after swallowing psilocybin capsules, seven patients continued to show an improvement.

Five remained depression-free. The treatment produced few adverse side effects.

Some patients reported confusion, nausea and headaches, and two suffered a brief episode of mild paranoia.

Lead scientist Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, from Imperial College London, said these experiences with psilocybin can be incredibly profound.

“Sometimes people have what they describe as mystical or spiritual-type experiences — that’s not uncommon, particularly with the high dose,” he said.

“The limitation of this treatment is the acute experience itself. It can be psychologically challenging.”

Magic mushrooms carries a seven-year jail term for possession.

Dr Carhart-Harris warned against people self-medicating with the drug, which carries a seven-year jail term for possession.

Professor David Nutt, who also worked on the study, hailed the findings a “landmark” but lashed out at the “Kafkaesque” restrictions that made it so difficult to conduct research on psilocybin.

Because of the regulations and red tape, “it cost $2960 to dose each patient when in any sane world it might have cost $A59.

He argued that obstacles in the way of investigating the therapeutic potential of psilocybin could be lifted “overnight” if the Home Secretary reclassified it as a Schedule Two drug, which can be prescribed and supplied by doctors.

Prof Nutt, from Imperial College, was famously sacked from his former job as the Government’s chief drug adviser in 2009 after claiming that ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol.

Depression affects around one in five people at some time in their lives.

Most patients respond positively to medical treatments and cognitive behavioural therapy, but around a fifth cannot be helped and are classified as having treatment-resistant depression.

Precisely how psilocybin might lift depression remains an unanswered question.

Previous brain scan studies suggest that it dismantles a harmful hyperactive neural circuit that causes people to be inward-looking and to dwell on thoughts of failure and inadequacy.