Home | Community | Message Board

World Seed Supply
This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.


Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: Kraken Kratom Kratom Capsules for Sale   Left Coast Kratom Buy Kratom Extract   North Spore North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies   Original Sensible Seeds Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds   PhytoExtractum Maeng Da Thai Kratom Leaf Powder   Mushroom-Hut Mono Tub Substrate   Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1 | 2 | Next >  [ show all ]
InvisibleveggieM

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression
    #14257249 - 04/08/11 06:53 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Psychedelic drug cuts brain blood flow and connections
April 8, 2011 - newscientist.com

Psychedelic drug users throughout the ages have described their experiences as mind-expanding. They might be surprised, therefore, to hear that psilocybin – the active ingredient in magic mushrooms – actually decreases blood flow as well as connectivity between important areas of the brain that control perception and cognition.

The same areas can be overactive in people who suffer from depression, making the drug a potential treatment option for the condition.

The study is the first time that psilocybin's effects have been measured with fMRI, and the first experiment involving a hallucinogenic drug and human participants in the UK for decades.

Robin Carhart-Harris at Imperial College London and colleagues recruited 30 volunteers who agreed to be injected with psilocybin and have their brain scanned using two types of fMRI.

Half of the volunteers had their blood flow measured during the resulting trip; the rest underwent a scan that measured connectivity between different regions of the brain.

Low flow

Less blood flow was seen in the brain regions known as the thalamus, the posterior cingulate and the medial prefrontal cortex. "Seeing a decrease was surprising. We thought profound experience equalled more activity, but this formula is clearly too simplistic," says Carhart-Harris. "We didn't see an increase in any regions," he says.

Decreases in connectivity were also observed, such as between the hippocampus and the posterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex.

"Under psilocybin you see a relative decrease in 'talk' between the hippocampus and these cortical hub regions," says Carhart-Harris. "Changes in function in the posterior cingulate in particular are associated with changes in consciousness."

Mood swing

Psilocybin has a similar chemical structure to serotonin – a hormone involved in regulating mood – and therefore binds to serotonin receptors on nerve cells in the brain. The drug may have therapeutic potential because the serotonin system in nerves is also a target for existing antidepressants.

A study earlier this year by Charles Grob at the University of California, Los Angeles, showed that people with end-stage cancer had significantly less anxiety and better mood after receiving psilocybin (Archives of General Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.116).

Franz Vollenweider, who works in a similar field at the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, says that the immediate effects of psilocybin are not as important for clinical benefit as the longer-term effects. That's because psilocybin increases the expression of genes and signalling proteins associated with nerve growth and connectivity, he says: "We think that the antidepressant effects of psilocybin may be due to a possible increase of factors that activate long-term neuroplasticity."

Carhart-Harris presented his work at the Breaking Convention conference at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK, this week


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinedestructo_low
Oh yeah!
Male User Gallery


Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 10/07/08
Posts: 4,328
Last seen: 10 years, 8 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: veggie] * 1
    #14257277 - 04/08/11 07:04 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Where can I get a prescription for the first Psilocybin pill? :rofl: That would be one pill I would take more than the doctors recommended dosage. :awecid:


--------------------
There is a molecule for every purpose. There are only actions and reactions. Cut out the middle men. Everything I say is a lie.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Invisiblebait_
AllSpice
I'm a teapot
Registered: 04/24/07
Posts: 2,292
Loc: This Cannot Be Happening Flag
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: destructo_low]
    #14257616 - 04/08/11 09:31 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

is it just me or would tripping in an MRI machine be somewhat unsettling...
the low flow thing (though counterintuitive to me at first) is probably in part due to the vasorestriction

also i think i'de rater eat a mushroom than just the psilocybin... it's kinda like the whole marijuana and marinol thing...


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineHybridprX
Biodegrader of coir
Male User Gallery


Registered: 01/29/08
Posts: 2,588
Loc: Canada Flag
Last seen: 6 years, 4 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: bait_]
    #14257889 - 04/08/11 10:35 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

As I have said in the past, psilocybin IS IN FACT! a cure for chronic depression.

In my later teen years I became severely depressed and it lasted until the age of 24, I had survived (remarkably) one suicide attempt and if that was not enough of a wake up call for me at the time I decided to eat 3.5g's of my crop about a month after my dumb ass attempt.

Long story short, been clear of depression ever since. The trip was absolute HELL but it fixed me up reeeaaal nice. Not only am I quite normal (still have my weirdo quarks) but I have not contemplated suicide since that experience nor have I felt any harsh negative effects of the chemical in balance that was occurring in my brain at that time and I am not on medication, which may come as a surprise to some members of this board. :crazy2:


--------------------


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineTritium
 User Gallery


Registered: 03/22/11
Posts: 152
Last seen: 3 years, 9 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: HybridprX]
    #14257908 - 04/08/11 10:41 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Quote:

bait_ said:
also i think i'de rater eat a mushroom than just the psilocybin... it's kinda like the whole marijuana and marinol thing...




I couldn't agree more. Especially with psychedelics, I think the method of ingestion, and just the setting in general would definitely impact the experience


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineLadyLittleZeppelin
Stoner
Female User Gallery


Registered: 10/30/09
Posts: 1,513
Last seen: 11 years, 6 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: Tritium]
    #14257964 - 04/08/11 10:57 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Interesting article! I haven't felt overly suicidal or real depresssed since my last trip on shrooms. Still upset about the shape our country is in but nothing is going fix that.


--------------------
SHROOMS MAKE YOU GAY
~
Crystal G said:
  its cuzzzzzz i giiiiiive a meeeeean blooooowjjjobbbb.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinejvm
I knew the pieces fit!
Male User Gallery


Registered: 05/08/07
Posts: 2,031
Loc: Cleveland, Ohio Flag
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: LadyLittleZeppelin]
    #14258189 - 04/08/11 11:55 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Mushrooms helped take away my anxiety and depression, as well as my cluster headaches. Many other subtle, personal things as well they have helped me work through. Thanks :mushroom2:


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineMoonraker
Friend
Male User Gallery

Registered: 12/15/08
Posts: 741
Last seen: 4 years, 6 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: HybridprX]
    #14258291 - 04/08/11 12:16 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Quote:

HybridprX said:
As I have said in the past, psilocybin IS IN FACT! a cure for chronic depression.

In my later teen years I became severely depressed and it lasted until the age of 24, I had survived (remarkably) one suicide attempt and if that was not enough of a wake up call for me at the time I decided to eat 3.5g's of my crop about a month after my dumb ass attempt.

Long story short, been clear of depression ever since. The trip was absolute HELL but it fixed me up reeeaaal nice. Not only am I quite normal (still have my weirdo quarks) but I have not contemplated suicide since that experience nor have I felt any harsh negative effects of the chemical in balance that was occurring in my brain at that time and I am not on medication, which may come as a surprise to some members of this board. :crazy2:



"The trip was absolute HELL but..."

I've always said that bad trips are equally if not more beneficial. They aren't fun when its happening but afterward things can become clear. Sadly some people blame the psychoactive itself and use a bad trip as an excuse to stop tripping all together. When in fact it should be used as an invitation, as if to say,"You have a great deal more to learn from this substance."

Depression was a common theme amongst my later teen years as well. Psychedelics have done way more than any therapist ever could.


--------------------
A human race with more highly developed spiritual capacities, with expanded consciousness of the depth and the incomprehensible wonder of being, would also have greater understanding of and better consideration for the biological and material foundation of life on this earth, Above all, for Western people with their hypertrophied rationality, the development and expansion of a direct, emotional experience of reality, unobstructed by words and concepts, would be of evolutionary significance.

Beginning to think is beginning to be undermined.

To fall in hell or soar angelic,
You need a pinch of psychedelic.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineDiacetylmentlegen
Gentleman
Male


Registered: 06/13/10
Posts: 267
Loc: Ireland Flag
Last seen: 11 years, 6 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: Moonraker]
    #14258307 - 04/08/11 12:20 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

As always, I'm left wondering how in the hell I can apply to get a piece some of this action for my OCD! :tongue:

Quote:

veggie said:
Franz Vollenweider, who works in a similar field at the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, says that the immediate effects of psilocybin are not as important for clinical benefit as the longer-term effects. That's because psilocybin increases the expression of genes and signalling proteins associated with nerve growth and connectivity, he says: "We think that the antidepressant effects of psilocybin may be due to a possible increase of factors that activate long-term neuroplasticity."




That is VERY interesting indeed. So it's proper good for the brain, eh? Physically even.

TBQH, in the days after my last trip... despite the trip being... "distracting" and not something where I was really able to think about my life consciously and think about my problems etc. I actually swear I felt better in many ways. My outlook seemed better. Maybe still does. And due to the lack of any real proper introspection during the trip, I'm led to believe that it was either subconscious or, what seems more likely to me, that it changed my brain somehow in such a way that it made me more inclined to look on things positively.
Not a massive difference, mind, but I swear it gave me some thoughts I hadn't really had before. Making me feel a little more accepting of some things maybe. I dunno. There's placebo to consider too of course.

Quote:

Moonraker said:
Sadly some people blame the psychoactive itself and use a bad trip as an excuse to stop tripping all together.




A bit like having a horrible experience while sober, and then deciding never again to go around without being high on something because sobriety clearly doesn't agree with you:dontspillme:


--------------------
"When I recall it and when I recall various other symptoms... I think the simplest explanation is... that I had these experiences, that they were real... and that they took place outside time." - Christopher Mayhew


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineJoolz
Male

Registered: 09/19/10
Posts: 3,614
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: Moonraker]
    #14258319 - 04/08/11 12:22 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Ever just eat 1-2 grams of shrooms? The silent euphoria and body high is just greatness, especially if you dose low daily just for those two effects. I don't necessarily like the feeling, but that's just because I'm young and want to fry my brain a little bit before I just do small doses. :raveface:


--------------------
Prohibition didn't work for God; Eve ate the fruit.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineSlightlyStoned
On a Mission From god
 User Gallery


Registered: 08/25/10
Posts: 117
Loc: between a rock and a hard...
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: Joolz]
    #14258389 - 04/08/11 12:38 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

i just want to know how they injected psilocybin. i made a thread about a while back and was called a retard.


--------------------
I prefer dangerous freedom to peaceful slavery.
~ Thomas Jefferson

Great minds discuss ideas, mediocre minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.

The number of times I edit my post is directly related to the number of times I've hit the bong.

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them.I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." -Robert A. Heinlein

"All mushrooms are edible; but some only once." Croatian proverb


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineBothHands
Dog Coffee
Female User Gallery


Registered: 10/28/09
Posts: 13,177
Loc: Flag
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: SlightlyStoned]
    #14258405 - 04/08/11 12:41 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Quote:

SlightlyStoned said:
i just want to know how they injected psilocybin. i made a thread about a while back and was called a retard.




Well, I believe the psilocin they use in the lab has been synthesized, and not extracted from mushrooms.  If you wanted to do this on your own, you'd need to make a tea.  Only  problem is that tea is a lot of liquid, and reducing your tea with heat is a sure fire way to oxidize it.  So you'd need to get a pint bag and hook it up to an IV, or get some lab grade stuff.

Not particularly feasible, but not retarded either.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineTritium
 User Gallery


Registered: 03/22/11
Posts: 152
Last seen: 3 years, 9 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: Joolz]
    #14258525 - 04/08/11 01:13 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Quote:

Joolz said:
Ever just eat 1-2 grams of shrooms? The silent euphoria and body high is just greatness, especially if you dose low daily just for those two effects. I don't necessarily like the feeling, but that's just because I'm young and want to fry my brain a little bit before I just do small doses. :raveface:




i know EXACTLY how you feel. just started on psychedelics maybe 3 months ago and all i can think about is getting super fried haha.

at the same time im looking forward to the stage where i can just enjoy them at any dose


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinefbi365
Captain of the Sinking Ship
Male


Registered: 02/07/11
Posts: 2,857
Loc: Nowhere
Last seen: 4 months, 10 days
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: Tritium]
    #14258767 - 04/08/11 02:11 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

the FDA would reschedule Psilocybin in a instant if a major drug company could make money from it...


--------------------




Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleSophistic Radiance
Free sVs!
Female

Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 43,135
Loc: Center of the Universe
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: veggie]
    #14259025 - 04/08/11 03:00 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

This article is so exciting... the floodgates are open, research is being done on humans again. I expect we'll see psychedelic clinics in regular operation before 2020.

It drives me crazy that I'm not involved in neurological research RIGHT NOW :zomgwtf:

This is going to be a legitimate revolution in mental health. Instead of being on SSRI's for a few months, you'll go into the clinic on a few weekends, and be cured instead of "treated." Industries will fall, industries will open up, and we'll have health insurance pay for the miniscule cost of a psychedelic retreat.

FUCK. YES.


--------------------
Enlil said:
You really are the worst kind of person.



Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleSophistic Radiance
Free sVs!
Female

Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 43,135
Loc: Center of the Universe
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: fbi365]
    #14259057 - 04/08/11 03:06 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Quote:

fbi365 said:
the FDA would reschedule Psilocybin in a instant if a major drug company could make money from it...




The drug companies will probably lose money, because they make a lot of money off people who take SSRI's every day for half their lives.

But everybody else will save massive amounts of money, especially the government, in emergency-room treatment and public health care. Once the efficacy of psychedelics in ending depressive cycles has been scientifically established, everybody will go for it. SSRI peddlers, who use scientific data to legitimize their product, will have no leg to stand on, and we will see the death of antidepressants as we know them. End of story.

I don't mean to sound overly optimistic here, I'm as jaded as anybody, but I really think we're at a tipping point.


--------------------
Enlil said:
You really are the worst kind of person.



Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineBothHands
Dog Coffee
Female User Gallery


Registered: 10/28/09
Posts: 13,177
Loc: Flag
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: Sophistic Radiance]
    #14259084 - 04/08/11 03:10 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

I'm not sure.. Consider how much money the government makes in taxes from big pharma.  They might save some money on healthcare costs, but will that be eclipsed by the money they lose by reducing profits of their biggest earning companies?

And when you consider the power that big pharma has, I very much doubt anything that'll cost them money will be allowed to happen.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleSophistic Radiance
Free sVs!
Female

Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 43,135
Loc: Center of the Universe
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: BothHands]
    #14259115 - 04/08/11 03:18 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

I just think that battle was already fought in the 60's, and pharma won the battle but not the war. Now we're at a point where they can no longer prohibit psychedelic research on humans, and what few studies have been done by this point already yield extremely promising leads.

Depression is an extremely costly mental illness, even without taking treatment into hand. Self-harm, illness from self-neglect, and the burden on the state of people who are too depressed to work or study is enormous. If psychedelic therapy can be scientifically proven to be a treatment regimen more reliable and effective than what we already have, people will go for it immediately.

The reason why weed has had so much trouble is that it has been opposed not only by pharma but also by the alcohol industry. But psychedelics don't pose a direct threat to the alcohol industry because nobody comes home from their humdrum job to unwind with some hallucinogens. They may pose a threat to big eth in the long run by reducing the rate of alcoholism in the general population, but since big eth can't run scientifically-backed ads warning of hallucinogen addiction...

This is going to be an easier fight to win than pot, I'm pretty sure.


--------------------
Enlil said:
You really are the worst kind of person.



Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinefbi365
Captain of the Sinking Ship
Male


Registered: 02/07/11
Posts: 2,857
Loc: Nowhere
Last seen: 4 months, 10 days
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: Sophistic Radiance]
    #14259149 - 04/08/11 03:24 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Quote:

Tchan909 said:
Quote:

fbi365 said:
the FDA would reschedule Psilocybin in a instant if a major drug company could make money from it...




The drug companies will probably lose money, because they make a lot of money off people who take SSRI's every day for half their lives.

But everybody else will save massive amounts of money, especially the government, in emergency-room treatment and public health care. Once the efficacy of psychedelics in ending depressive cycles has been scientifically established, everybody will go for it. SSRI peddlers, who use scientific data to legitimize their product, will have no leg to stand on, and we will see the death of antidepressants as we know them. End of story.

I don't mean to sound overly optimistic here, I'm as jaded as anybody, but I really think we're at a tipping point.




They only way this stuff ever gets legalized is if big pharma backs it.  In fact they will prob be the ones driving the whole process. And it won't be "Mushrooms Legalized!" It will be a synthetic manufactured highly regulated form of the drug meted out in small doses. 

I'm sorry, but you are severely misunderstanding the corporate-government nexus.

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/13941747/page/3

Hate to be a negative nancy


--------------------




Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleSophistic Radiance
Free sVs!
Female

Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 43,135
Loc: Center of the Universe
Re: Psilocybin a potential treatment option for depression [Re: fbi365]
    #14259222 - 04/08/11 03:33 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

I'd like to be the negative nancy here too, but the fact of the matter is that psychedelic treatment can't be administered under the existing antidepressant paradigm.

Rather than being given a pill to take every day, people will be invited to attend psychedelic therapy sessions at specialized treatment centers. Just a few of these sessions will treat symptoms in the long term.

I don't think psychedelic therapy would even work as a daily dose. By nature, it is something administered occasionally and which has long-term beneficial effects in absence of the drug itself.

There's no doubt that pharma will lose money as we shift to this new paradigm of mental health treatment, but in light of scientific data proving the efficacy of this methodology, any rational opposition will be dust in the wind, since their methods are based upon rationalistic models which will inherently support the overriding efficacy of psychedelic therapy.

MAPS has been working to engender this new paradigm for a long time, and we're going to be seeing the fruits soon, I'm certain of it. Studies like these really give me hope.


--------------------
Enlil said:
You really are the worst kind of person.



Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1 | 2 | Next >  [ show all ]

Shop: Kraken Kratom Kratom Capsules for Sale   Left Coast Kratom Buy Kratom Extract   North Spore North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies   Original Sensible Seeds Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds   PhytoExtractum Maeng Da Thai Kratom Leaf Powder   Mushroom-Hut Mono Tub Substrate   Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order


Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Global Rise in Antidepressants, Other Mind-Altering Drugs Prescribed to Children AnnoA 893 0 11/18/04 01:33 AM
by Anno
* Implanted Electrodes Combat Depression World Spirit 957 1 03/01/05 10:14 PM
by Phluck
* Marijuana medicine tests pot's potential veggieM 1,036 0 08/01/05 12:32 AM
by veggie
* Scientists Study Mushrooms For Potential Cancer Treatments motamanM 1,552 0 11/11/03 07:31 AM
by motaman
* Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression, Erratic Behavior ekomstop 4,237 17 08/06/04 10:11 PM
by Redo
* Teen Treatment for Marijuana Up 142 Percent AnnoA 2,190 5 04/27/04 12:34 PM
by DailyPot
* Canada - Pot charge rejected in potential landmark case ThorA 3,726 3 01/03/03 04:17 AM
by thecannuck
* Stage IV cancer patients and psilocybin - Patient Interviews blink 1,988 3 10/24/04 08:19 PM
by veggie

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: motaman, veggie, Alan Rockefeller, Mostly_Harmless
3,594 topic views. 0 members, 3 guests and 2 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:

Copyright 1997-2024 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.033 seconds spending 0.013 seconds on 16 queries.