MUSHROOM-ALTERED PERCEPTIONS CAN MAKE LIFE MORE BEAUTIFUL NOW

Altered perceptions can be the best way to manage some realities. Recent studies are showing that psilocybin, a hallucinogenic compound found in some species of mushrooms -- aka “magic mushrooms” -- can profoundly improve life for people suffering from a range of mood disorders.

Substances that alter the ways we experience the world have been used for thousands of years by spiritual practitioners, thrill-seekers, and artists. While they are regaled as delivering many levels of beautiful consciousness, they’ve also been vilified, thanks to the War on Drug crusade.

When Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act, it shut down research into psychedelics, like LSD and psilocybin. But now that laws are relaxing, research has been underway again.

One important set of studies have focused on seriously and terminally ill patients, to measure the impact of psilocybin on their mental health and quality of life. The results are astonishing.

A single dose of psilocybin can lead to lasting improvements to mental health, peace, and relief from serious psychological issues.

The entire December issue of the Journal of Psychopharmacology is dedicated to 2 new studies  which investigated psilocybin’s psychiatric effects on cancer patients who suffered from depression and anxiety.

Roland Griffiths led the  study at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in which 51 terminal cancer patients with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were given psilocybin. The results were exciting!

About 80% of the subjects showed large reductions in depression and anxiety and marked increases in their quality of life, life meaning, and levels of optimism.

A similar study led by Stephen Ross, of NYU School Medicine and Bellevue Hospital, produced similar results.

The effects of psilocybin fade after about 4 hours, which is one of the reasons researchers prefer it to LSD, which can last up to 12 hours.

In all studies so far, psilocybin had been found to produce immediate, substantial, and sustained improvements in anxiety and depression. It reduced hopelessness, improved spiritual well being, and increased quality of life. And the results held true when patients were revisited about 6 months later.

It is highly unusual for any substance to deliver such positive and lasting benefits on such a consistent basis. Furthermore, a growing body of research on the effects of psilocybin, showed that the substance is safe.

However, psilocybin is still a Schedule I substance, so there are still challenges to research efforts and it is not readily available to the public. But the results of these and other studies are making the case for a change in FDA classification.

Craig D. Blinderman, director of the adult-palliative-care service at Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, argues:

“If these findings are confirmed, or other therapeutic effects are demonstrated, in large, powered, randomized controlled studies in a diverse population of patients, then the classification of psilocybin as a Schedule 1 drug should be challenged, for this would represent a treatment modality unlike anything in psychiatry: a rapid and sustained reduction in depression and anxiety with a single dose of a psychoactive compound (combined with guided psychotherapy).”

No one is certain yet, however, just how psilocybin works. It does seem to calm the prefrontal cortex, a region often over-active in depressed patients.

Some researchers hypothesize that psilocybin alters the brain’s metabolism of glutamate, a neurotransmitter that positively affects learning and memory, acting as an inverse PTSD.

Other studies are pointing to psilocybin’s effectiveness in treating alcoholism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, treatment-resistant depression, and tobacco addiction.

Some studies are showing that psilocybin can help change peoples’ personalities, making them more open, creative, and loving.

Altered perceptions can bring relief and open us to new ways of experiencing the beauty of life. We look forward to seeing the results of new research into psilocybin to confirm both its efficacy and safety.

Read more about Beautiful Perceptions in Beautiful Perceptions On the Street Now, Extra Senses Make Life More Beautiful Now, Multi-Sensory Taste is Beautiful Now, Perception Is Art Now and Breathtaking Perspectives Yield Awesome Perceptions.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Bernard Spragg. NZ. “Gymnopilus spectabilis.”
2. Image: by Uppity Rib. “Morpheus & Iris,” painting by Baron Pierre-Narcisse Guérin.
3. Image: by kr428. “Another entity.”
4. Image: by Federico Mosconi. “Effetto LSD - LSD effect.”
5. Image: by QThomas Bower. “Red and White Flower - Fractal Mosaic, v.2.”
6. Image: by Pedro Ribeiro Simões. “Elena's Schuhe (1986-88) - Sigmar Polke (1941 - 2010).”
7. Image: by Martina Rathgens. “Hallucination.”
8. Image: by Mädi. Psilocybe cubensis "Golden Teacher" kookoskuidussa.
9. Image: by Martin Malec. “Psilocybe bohemica detail.”
10. Image: by Jynto. “Zwitterion.” Space-filling model of the psilocybin molecule.
11. Image: by actv. “Psilocybe Cubensis.”
12. Image: Courtesy of Journal of the Royal Society Interface. “Visualization of the brain connections in the brain of a person on psilocybin (right) and the brain of a person not given the drug.”
13. Image: by Joana Roja. “Migraine Vision.”
14. Image: by Joana Roja. “Walking in a Forest in Migrania.”
15. Image: by Thierry Ehrmann. “Hacking/TAZ/Utopies, Mikropornokrator performance.”
16. Image: by Alan Rockefeller. “A fruit body of the psychedelic mushroom Psilocybe mexicana.”
17. Image: by BN App - Download now!
18. Image: by Rohan523. “Psilocybe Cubensis.”