Subtitles section Play video
-
Are magic mushrooms just the start of a really weird trip?
-
Or are they the solution to the world’s growing mental health crisis?
-
This year saw the first ever trial that directly compared hallucinogenic fungi to traditional medications for depression,
-
and the results mean that our future might be about to get lots more fungus-y.
-
Globally, rates of mental illness are surging.
-
And the existing medications we have to treat things like depression aren’t perfect —
-
some people experience crappy side effects or just don’t find them effective at all,
-
so having more tools in our toolbox to treat mental health issues would be great.
-
And researchers have found a pretty cool tool in…mushrooms.
-
Magic mushrooms, that is.
-
Now ’shrooms can actually be any of over 180 species of mushroom that contain these hallucinogenic compounds.
-
You may have heard of psilocybin as the active compound in shrooms but actually, your body breaks psilocybin down into psilocin.
-
This is actually the chemical that affects your brain —
-
it’s what induces increased sensory perception, heightened emotions, even euphoria, and hallucinations.
-
And it’s very interesting to neuroscientists because structurally, it’s very similar to serotonin.
-
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and hormone that controls a bunch of things all over your body.
-
And apparently, the serotonin system in your brain — how it’s taken up by your neurons
-
and how it helps different parts of your brain communicate with each other — is really complex, and we still don’t fully understand it.
-
But generally, the consensus seems that low levels of serotonin are linked to depression and anxiety.
-
This is why one of the most commonly prescribed medications for depression and anxiety
-
are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.
-
These drugs boost the levels of serotonin in the brain, improving the symptoms of these mental illnesses.
-
The scientific community has been looking at hallucinogens for therapeutic use in mushrooms specifically
-
because their potential side effects are generally considered less extreme than LSD or ecstasy.
-
There’s less of an extreme peak and then crash, and research shows they have less potential to be addictive.
-
Which is why, in 2021, researchers at Imperial College London used it in their study,
-
comparing it to SSRIs as a treatment for depression.
-
A group of 59 participants with major depressive disorder, was divided in two.
-
Some received: 25 mg dose of psilocybin, a daily placebo pill, and psychotherapy.
-
The rest received: 1 mg dose of psilocybin, a daily dose of an SSRI, and psychotherapy.
-
The participants were grouped totally randomly, and everyone was told they would be receiving psilocybin.
-
This was to make sure that the participants’ expectations didn’t affect their outcome —
-
like, “I was told I would be receiving mushrooms and that’s why I felt weird."
-
These two aspects are what make this study what scientists call a ‘randomized controlled trial’.
-
So…how’d it go?
-
Participants self-reported their mental wellbeing via standardized forms, and the results were pretty trippy.
-
Overall, 70% of the psilocybin-only group responded positively to the treatment, compared with 48% of the SSRI group.
-
The psilocybin group felt the effects of treatment more quickly, showed a much greater reduction in suicidality,
-
and more improvement in their ability to feel pleasure.
-
Now, it’s important to note that even with these differences,
-
both groups did experience improvement in their symptoms,
-
and SSRIs can take several weeks or even months to make a noticeable difference.
-
So the fact that the study was only six weeks long may mean that the full effect of the SSRIs wasn’t measured by this study.
-
None of the participants experienced any major adverse side effects, which is great.
-
But this is at least partially because the study screened out people with preexisting psychiatric conditions like psychosis,
-
which might make an adverse event like a ‘bad trip’ more likely.
-
Another study, the largest trial yet of psilocybin’s positive impact on depression,
-
was published in 2021 with equally encouraging results.
-
Many more studies are currently underway worldwide to keep assessing the efficacy and safety
-
of hallucinogenic mushrooms for therapeutic uses.
-
Because we’re really just starting to understand how they work.
-
Thanks to tools like functional MRIs, we’ve found that mushrooms affect the activity of brain areas like the claustrum and the amygdala.
-
We think the claustrum connects the parts of our brain that take in sensory information
-
and it plays a role in consciousness.
-
Psilocin’s alteration of claustrum function may change our brain’s connectivity and alter our perception of the world around us.
-
In the amygdala, psilocin ramps up the activity, allowing for increased emotional processing.
-
This could be one of the reasons mushrooms can improve depressive symptoms.
-
But psilocybin is highly restricted and criminalized in many countries.
-
Even though it’s not considered addictive, it’s in the same restrictive category as other narcotics with ‘a high potential for abuse’,
-
like heroin.
-
Many indigenous cultures have used them in spiritual, physical, and mental well-being practices for centuries,
-
but the mainstream is gonna need some more convincing.
-
So the more data we have on its therapeutic activity in the brain —
-
and how the heck the brain works in the first place —
-
the more we could see mushrooms on the menu for mental health.
-
If you want more on mental health topics, then check out our series Mindset, hosted by Dr. T on Seeker's TikTok.
-
Keep coming back to Seeker for your fungus 411 and as always, thanks for watching. I’ll see you next time.