Shrooms And Depression – Are Psilocybin Mushrooms an Effective Anti-Depressant?
Perhaps you’ve reached this article because you’re seeking an alternate treatment to prescription drugs that is more natural and effective long-term, or perhaps you suffer from depression and already discovered shrooms has helped alleviate some of your symptoms. Regardless, my hopes is that this article gives you more of a active understanding of shrooms and depression – is it an effective treatment?
To dive into this subject, I had the opportunity to speak with someone who has used psilocybin mushrooms as a treatment for depression and has found it effective:
According to the guest on this podcast he has found an effective treatment with shrooms and depression, according to him “I battle really bad with depression, it helped me to start microdosing. Microdosing really helps me out, but sometimes if I’m having a episode it can make me feel feelings unlike I ever felt before. I don’t really feel like I have emotions towards a lot of things, so when I feel I’m like ‘Woah!'”
Depression isn’t just diagnosed by a feeling of sadness, but also a lost of interest in things that once excited you. In other words, depression is diagnosed by a lack of feeling as well as primarily feeling only a singular negative emotion. What I gather from this conversation is that psilocybin mushrooms allowed this user to regain interest in life and feel emotions other then sadness simultaneously. Studies have indicated that shrooms make people more sensitive to their emotions and surroundings.
He also claims it helps him personify his depression, “I’m able to lay out all of these things in my mind and I’m able to tackle them and move on. You’re able to pull it out and say ‘this is what’s going on and this is how I can deal with it instead of just ignoring it.'”
If this is the case, then this would make shrooms more effective at treating depression then prescription medicines. Even psychiatrist will say that prescription medication is meant to be a “bridge” and not a long-term solution for mental illness, a person prescribed anti-depressants is encouraged to engage in counseling to help solve the root of their problem so they can become less dependent on medication over time. However, though this is advised, not all patients see it this way and as a result become dependent on medication indefinitely.
What this guest is sharing with us is that shrooms forcibly surfaced the causes of his depression and gave him the ability to solve it. Essentially, not only are shrooms treating the surface problem of the depression but they are addressing the underlying cause.
We discussed psychological, but could shrooms be treating depression physiologically?
On top of psychological implications to why shrooms and depression are effective for treatment, there are physiological implications as well. Psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) the active compound in “magic mushrooms” effects the 5-HT2A serotogenic receptors in the brain and body. Serotonin deficiency has been linked to being the primary cause of depression. Psilocybin mushrooms can be doing something to effect serotonin that science has yet to discover.
If you’re struggling with depression I hope you got something from this article!
Philip Markoff (Associate of Science) is an online influencer and thought leader on addiction education; he is known as his alias “CG Kid” who’s obtained a large audience primarily on YouTube as a vlogger and journalist. His current sobriety date from polysubstance chemical dependency is June 9th, 2013.