(MENAFN - Baystreet.ca) A new study led by the Imperial College London s Centre for Psychedelic Research has yielded promising results for the use of psilocybin in psychiatric therapy.
Psilocybin, the psychoactive compound of magic mushrooms - was pitted up against popular SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) escitalopram. Results were measured through scoring tallied after surveying participants on their sleep, energy, appetite, mood and suicidal ideations.
The largely-negatively focused questionnaire attained similar results for both the SSRI and the psilocybin group - an already promising result. However, some markers that were not originally part of the study showed far superior results in the psilocybin group. Namely, measures of work and social functioning, mental well-being and the ability to feel happy.
The group also has connected patients to doctors and therapists who oversee their use of the drug.
These trial cases come amid mounting interest from researchers and investors, as well as a public push to reconsider bans on psilocybin, LSD, DMT, mescaline and other mind-altering substances such as MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.
The US state of Oregon legalized psilocybin for therapeutic use last November.
Psychedelics have been used by indigenous peoples for millennia, but Western researchers only started delving into their properties and potential uses in earnest in the middle of last century.
But that work came grinding to a halt when the substances quickly became symbols of the anti-establishment counter-culture movement of the 1960s and were banned.
To manage her stress and fears, Andrea Bird, who has terminal cancer, uses psychedelics, which are seeing a sudden re-emergence in Canada as a possible treatment for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. The 60-year-old Canadian was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. Despite aggressive treatment, the disease returned five years later, spreading to her lungs, bones and brain. As she tries to cope with her incurable ailment, Bird uses psilocybin, the psychoactive substance of hallucinogenic mushrooms that was banned in the 1970s.
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