How ‘magic mushrooms’ could transform medicine – from treating depression to gambling and addiction
PSYCHEDELIC drugs might still invoke images of The Beatles, Woodstock and flower power – but one day they could be prescribed by a doctor.
An emerging area of science is focusing on the idea that a “magic mushroom” trip can be beneficial for people with severe mental health issues.
Psilocybin is the active ingredient in “shrooms”, which when taken recreationally, gives people the giggles, hallucinations and a sense of awe at their surroundings.
But evidence suggests it can help us confront our deepest fears and traumas, and get the brain firing in novel ways.
Psilocybin is an illegal Class A drug, which makes it difficult and expensive for the small number of research centres in the UK to study it.
And one of the biggest barriers to the drug being taken seriously is its reputation.
Sam Lawes of the Centre for Evidence Based Drug Policy, told Sun Health: “It’s seen as a recreational drug and a party drug for festivals, but in terms of research we should treat it like a medicine.
“If it’s not an effective medicine, studies will show that.
“But so far, studies are showing great promise.”
A quarter of Brits will experience some form of mental health problem each year.
For many, medicines don’t work, NHS therapy is hard to access and waiting lists are growing.
Sam says: “You can see we’ve got a burning need for an alternative solution.”
Researchers at Imperial College London published findings of a study last month that compared two doses of psilocybin to the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram.
Both treatments were effective at reducing depression at a six-month follow-up.
But, unlike antidepressants, psilocybin didn’t stall sex drive.
Small studies have also shown the positive impact of psilocybin on eating disorders, anxiety, addictions, PTSD and OCD.
Psychiatrist Professor David Nutt, the leading expert in psychedelic research in the UK working at the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London, has seen lives transformed with psilocybin.
He tells Sun Health: “It is almost certainly the most promising development innovation in the treatment of mental illness and also some neurological illnesses for 50 years.”
Typically, a trial participant takes a dose comparable to that taken recreationally, closes their eyes and listens to music.
Afterwards, volunteers talk things through with a therapist.
Though science is only beginning to understand this compound’s effects, MRI brain imaging has been “remarkable”, Prof Nutt says.
Scans by the team at Imperial, published in the journal Nature Medicine, have shown that psilocybin boosts connectivity in brain regions that have become rigid in those with depression.
Essentially it cracks open unused networks of the mind in a way not seen with antidepressants and this was linked with improved depressive symptoms.
‘UNUSED NETWORKS’
Columbia University has also shown that patients with body dysmorphic disorder had increased brain activity just one day after taking a 25mg dose of psilocybin.
Those with the greatest boost in neural connectivity had the most improvement in BDD symptoms a week later.
The effects of a single dose of pure psilocybin can last weeks, research suggests.
It is almost certainly the most promising development innovation in the treatment of mental illness and also some neurological illnesses for 50 years
Psychiatrist Professor David Nutt
A paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in August found 25mg of psilocybin plus psychological support had a “rapid and sustained antidepressant effect” over six weeks.
But the long-term effects, including comparison to traditional treatments, still needs studying.
Prof Nutt and colleagues will soon start trials to explore if psilocybin could treat opioid and gambling addictions.
He explains: “These are disorders in which people get locked into ways of thinking that they can’t escape from.
“Gamblers know they shouldn’t gamble, but they can’t stop.
“Depressed people know that they’re not worthless and guilty, but they can’t stop those thoughts.
“These ruminations in the brain can be broken by psychedelics.
“For most people in these studies, their lives have been ruined and they feel depressed or anxious.
“After taking the psychedelics, they can see they are not a worthless person, they can forgive themselves and that is a great release.”
The problem is that trial participants want more of what made them better.
Prof Nutt says: “Depression is deep-seated and after a few months, it creeps back and they plead to have psilocybin again.”
Regardless, taking magic mushrooms in a hospital setting with a therapist to hand is safer than doing so in your living room.
Now, experts want psilocybin to be medicalised as cannabis was in 2018.
This would speed up research, but more importantly, allow doctors to prescribe it in the real world, they argue.
While the UK is usually a world leader in health sciences, other countries have forged ahead with psilocybin.
Prescribing psilocybin and MDMA for treatment-resistant depression has been legalised in Australia, and Colorado and Oregon, in the US, have legalised some use of psychedelics.
The Home Office told Sun Health it is “considering advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on how best to reduce barriers to research with controlled drugs, including psilocybin, while ensuring they are not misused or exploited by criminals”.
The UK is lagging behind, mired in outdated laws and stigma
Tara Austin, Psilocybin Access Rights
In 2022, it rejected a bid to reclassify psilocybin, arguing that even if an application for a product licence was made, it would be up to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to authorise it.
As psilocybin is a natural compound “it means drug companies won’t pay for the trials because they can’t reap financial reward afterwards,” says Prof Nutt.
Meanwhile, patients get caught in the middle. Labour MP Charlotte Nichols led a Commons debate on the topic last year.
She described her own PTSD as a “living hell” and said: “It feels like institutional cruelty to condemn us to our misery when there are proven, safe, and effective treatments if the Government would only let us access them.”
Steve Rolles, analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, added: “Politicians are very wary about being seen as soft on drugs.”
Tara Austin, of Psilocybin Access Rights, said: “The UK is lagging behind, mired in outdated laws and stigma.
“We’ve seen an alarming rise in antidepressant use in England, which is ineffective for many, with no innovative solutions in sight.
“Veterans with PTSD, and indeed all individuals facing mental health challenges, deserve better.”
While the future of magic mushrooms as medicine is uncertain, the advice for now is clear: “Don’t try this at home”.
‘Some more hazardous than others’
PSYCHEDELICS are powerful and that comes with risks.
Dr Paul Keedwell, fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, says: “The most common risk of taking psychedelics recreationally is experiencing a ‘bad trip’ which can result in overwhelming fear, paranoia and hallucinations.
“Such experiences can lead to panic attacks, accidents and lasting trauma.
“Psilocybin can trigger acute psychosis in those with a history of psychotic episodes or family history of schizophrenia.”
Doctors in Austria reported a case last month of a man who had amputated his penis with an axe after taking magic mushrooms.
Fortunately for the man surgeons were able to perform a successful reconstruction operation.
Dr Keedwell said someone would need “a great many mushrooms to get into trouble”.
Common side effects also include dizziness, nausea, confusion, paranoia and anxiety.
It was concerns about psychological distress and potential harm of psychedelics, including LSD, that led to their Class A classification in 1971.
Dr Keedwell says: “In reality, some drugs like LSD are much more potent and hazardous than others.
“Relatively, psilocybin is less powerful.”