Magic mushrooms' psychedelic ingredient
could help treat people with severe
depression
Trials of psilocybin blocked by drugs law red tape, says Professor David Nutt of Imperial
College London


Robin McKie, science editor
The Observer, Saturday 6 April 2013
Prof David Nutt says that because magic mushrooms are rated as a class-A drug, their active chemical
ingredient cannot be manufactured unless a special licence is granted. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi
for the Guardian
Drugs derived from magic mushrooms could help treat people with severe depression. Scientists
believe the chemical psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms, can turn down
parts of the brain that are overactive in severely depressive patients. The drug appears to stop
patients dwelling on themselves and their own perceived inadequacies.
However, a bid by British scientists to carry out trials of psilocybin on patients in order to assess
its full medical potential has been blocked by red tape relating to Britain's strict drugs laws.
Professor David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, will
tell a conference today that because magic mushrooms are rated as a class-A drug, their active
chemical ingredient cannot be manufactured unless a special licence is granted.
"We haven't started the study because finding companies that could manufacture the drug and
who are prepared to go through the regulatory hoops to get the licence is proving very difficult,"
said Nutt. "The whole field is so bedevilled by primitive old-fashioned attitudes. Even if you
have a good idea, you may never get it into the clinic, it seems."
Research by Nutt has found that psilocybin switches off part of the brain called the anterior
cingulate cortex. It was known that this area is overactive in individuals suffering from
depression. In his tests on healthy individuals, it was found that psilocybin had a profound effect
on making these volunteers feel happier weeks after they had taken the drug, said Nutt – who
was sacked as the chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after
repeatedly clashing with government ministers about the dangers and classification of illicit
drugs.
Nutt's team also discovered that another section of the brain known as the default mode network
was also influenced by psilocybin. "People with depression have overactive default mode
networks and so ruminate on themselves, on their inadequacies, on their badness, that they are
worthless, that they have failed – to an extent that is sometimes delusional. Again psilo-cybin
appears to block that activity and stops this obsessive rumination."
To determine if psilocybin could be used as a treatment to help patients, Nutt and his team were
given £550,000 by the Medical Research Council to begin a three-year project to test the drug on
people with depression. Patients who had failed to respond to two previous treatments would be
selected. The aim was to test 30 with the drug and 30 with a placebo.
However, the group has found its path blocked by bureaucracy. So difficult has the government
and the EU made it for companies to manufacture the active ingredients of Class A drugs that
price tags of around £100,000 were given by chemical companies.
"We only need a relatively small amount of the drug, an order worth only a few hundred
pounds," said Nutt, who is set to describe his work with psilocybin at the UK Festival of
Neuroscience conference in London today. "If we have to pay £100,000 we simply cannot afford
to carry out the rest of the study. We have not given up but it is proving very difficult," he said.
"Depression is now the largest cause of disability in Europe. There are many effective treatments
but only about a third of individuals respond fully. At least 10% fail to respond to three different
treatments. We badly need more types of treatment but we cannot pursue these because the
government is denying scientists access to powerful tools that could help people in need. The
regulations that govern researchers access to Class A drugs are totally inappropriate and
harmful."
Care PJ
93
I'm so glad to see this because in my last semester of psychology in college I wrote a paper on
exactly this the use of time-tested psychedelic plant medicine for the use of treating depression
and conditioning methods. My paper is full of references from pharmacologists, ethnobotanists,
psychologists and shamans. I was given a c-minus on this paper, claiming I was only glorifying
drugs(teacher was psychiatrist in training aka pill pusher). When I see more of these kind of
articles and Johns Hopkins studies I feel a lot better about getting back into the field of
psychology soon, and confident that study and experimentation with these elements is becoming
more possible. if I can find that paper I will share it.
93/93 KH
I'm sorry but treating people with severe depression with
a schizophrenia inducing hallucinogenic doesn't seem very prudent to me.
93 93/93
Hi Carl,
93
Of course, your opinion is wading against the opinion of a lot of modern psychologists in the U.S.
These guys (including an acquaintance of mine) are routinely lecturing at Columbia and NYU, Harvard
and Yale.
93/93
pj
Hi Carl & Kevin,
93
From another perspective, psychology can be considered the ‘scientization’ of spirituality. And we
certainly know of the spiritual use of psychotropic plants. We also know that ingesting these plants gave
the ancient Maya the ability to see the black hole at the center of our galaxy; long before Europeans
ever came close to understanding what a telescope was. So there is something about activating the
parts of the brain that these plants see so ready to enable that has a direct correlate with human
perception of the actual, physical Universe.
93/93
pj
And many lecturers from these same institutions you mentioned once lectured on the benefits of
electroshock therapy and lobotomies . . . did that make them correct? What about Timothy Leary's
research? Why isn't LSD the panacea drug of the ages?
93 93/93.
Carl
Hi Carl,
93
Tim Leary’s research led to many good things in the spiritual community; along with the work of
Terrence Mckenna (sp?).
And I guess from there, you may need to read some of this material first hand before criticizing what
you don’t know. We’ve frequently sent videos to this list for information on this topic…you might try
watching them when they come your way.
For reading, I recommend you start with Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D.’s book: Psychedelic Healing: The
Promise of Entheogens for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Development. He’s the acquaintance of mine I
told you about and he runs the Poetry-Science lectures in NYC. I often send his announcements to this
list.
Here’s what John H. Halpern, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School had to
say about his book:
“In synchronous timing with the publication of Jung’s precious personal vision, Neal Goldsmith present
his own Red Book of self-discovery and organizes it into a useful road map to the mystery within each of
us—of who we are and why…”
And for that matter, I and several people on this list can personally testify to the benefits of psychedelic
therapy.
93/93
pj
Hi Paul,
93
What I really meant to say is that I think this is an are where we should be pursued with extreme
caution. My previous statement was just an assessment on your argument of authority, which is not a
basis for an intellectual trump card. I have read some of Timothy Leary's work and in the right set and
setting perhaps there is a potential benefit to be obtained from psychedelic therapy. Sandoz created
both LSD and Psiloscybin (SP?) a very long time ago. Leary was fired from Harvard over his methods and
his brain was fried by the time he was in his 60's -- not to say that he wasn't a happy guy though. I have
had my own experience with both drugs, but never in a clinical environment. For me, I had one "bad
trip" experience, and it has had a lasting negative impact on my life. So, from my experience, and there
were indeed many good ones, the risk of permanent or intermittent psychological disturbance is very
real. Had I been using the drugs in a controlled set and setting with a certified guide, then perhaps there
would have been a different outcome. I was in my late teens and early twenties when I experimented
with these powerful drugs and I think that they do permanently alter consciousness and do so in many
beneficial ways. But there are risks, of anxiety, flashbacks from "bad trips", and it is a fact that they can
bring on schizophrenic (or schizophrenic-like) episodes even weeks, months, or years after the
experience.
93/93
Carl
Hi Carl,
93
What I really meant to say is that I think this is an are where we should be pursued with extreme
caution. My previous statement was just an assessment on your argument of authority, which is not a
basis for an intellectual trump card.
I’m not certain what you mean by “intellectual trump card.” But your challenge to authority was
fallacious. Doctors once bled patients to cure them of disease…does that mean we should stop listening
to doctors? Surely in modern psychological circles, the leading voices in these disciplines are calling out
from several countries for a serious look at psychotropic substances. Accepting this has been a part of
the culture of this list for some time…so that your challenge comes as a bit of a surprise in itself. Why
challenge this now? Are you arriving at a new opinion on the subject? Or are you simply paying
attention to it for the first time in your thinking?
I have read some of Timothy Leary's work and in the right set and setting perhaps there is a potential
benefit to be obtained from psychedelic therapy. Sandoz created both LSD and Psiloscybin (SP?) a very
long time ago. Leary was fired from Harvard over his methods and his brain was fried by the time he
was in his 60's -- not to say that he wasn't a happy guy though.
And how does this shoot down what contemporary Harvard psychologists and those of other
universities throughout several industrial countries have been stating as a result of research now, some
55 years later?
I have had my own experience with both drugs, but never in a clinical environment. For me, I had one
"bad trip" experience, and it has had a lasting negative impact on my life. So, from my experience, and
there were indeed many good ones, the risk of permanent or intermittent psychological disturbance is
very real.
And you consider this an expert opinion?...to me it seems quite anecdotal. And your idea that a “risk of
permanent or intermittent psychological disturbance” being “very real” is based on what science? Are
you an expert because you dropped acid once?...or is it that you’ve been working with some of these
leading psychologists?
Had I been using the drugs in a controlled set and setting with a certified guide, then perhaps there
would have been a different outcome. I was in my late teens and early twenties when I experimented
with these powerful drugs and I think that they do permanently alter consciousness and do so in many
beneficial ways. But there are risks, of anxiety, flashbacks from "bad trips", and it is a fact that they can
bring on schizophrenic (or schizophrenic-like) episodes even weeks, months, or years after the
experience.
So, in other words, you bought the government propaganda on “flashbacks” from “bad trips”…eh? And
do you also believe that LSD alters your genetic structure? And I guess you think reefer makes you a
mad murderer and serial rapist…?
93/93
pj
Acid Flashbacks (Includes Psilocybin)
Acid flashbacks are one of the long-term effects of LSD use, and can interfere with a person’s daily life even months
or years after they use LSD. Scientists still know little about what causes them or how to treat them. Keep reading
for more on acid flashbacks.
An acid flashback occurs when a person who has used LSD in the past experiences theeffects of acid use, such as
hallucinations, without taking the drug again. They can occur days or even years after the person used LSD. Acid
flashbacks may occur only once, or they may be persistent and interfere with a person's ability to function in daily
tasks.
A person experiencing an acid flashback may see colors or spots that aren’t there or may see things in a distorted
way, such as with halos or trails of light. Acid flashbacks more rarely cause people to hear things that aren't real. The
person experiencing acid flashbacks may not be able to tell what is real and what is not, and they may feel like they
are high on LSD again. Like the effects of LSD, acid flashbacks vary from person to person and are very
unpredictable and often frightening.
When acid flashbacks continue and interfere with daily life this is known as hallucinogen-induced persistent
perception disorder (HPPD). The most common type of HPPD occurs when a person’s normal vision is often disrupted
by flashbacks, such as seeing spots or trails of light frequently, though it can be more serious and interfere with a
person’s perception of reality.
Scientists aren't sure what causes acid flashbacks or HPPD, but there are several theories:



The brain may be damaged by LSD use, causing it to misfire and send incorrect signals
The way the brain functions and perceives information may be changed by LSD use, such as being much
more sensitive to light and therefore seeing halos or trails
The drug or some portion of it may be stored in the body or brain and released again later
Not everyone who uses LSD has acid flashbacks, but because LSD has very unpredictable effects it's hard to know if
a person will have flashbacks and when the acid flashbacks will occur. Some factors that seem to increase the
chances of a person having flashbacks include:









Heavy or frequent LSD use
Bad LSD trips
Marijuana use
Drinking alcohol
Fatigue
Stress
Existing mental illnesses or personality disorders
Use of certain prescription drugs, like anti-depressants
Being susceptible to suggestion
These risk factors do not give a clear indication of who will experience an acid flashback, however, since even a
healthy person who only uses LSD once may experience acid flashbacks.
There is no cure for acid flashbacks. Some medications, such as anti-seizure drugs, have been used in flashback or
HPPD treatment, but perhaps because of the unpredictability of acid flashbacks doctors have not yet found a definite
cure for all acid flashback sufferers.
Sources:
National Institute on Drug Abuse, "Hallucinogens: LSD, Peyote, Psilocybin, PCP" [online]
SAMHSA Health Information Network, "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)" [online]
PubMed Central, Canada Medical Association Journal, "Use of anti-epileptic medication in treating 'flashbacks' from
hallucinogenic drugs" [online]
ERIC, "LSD Flashbacks: An Overview of the Literature for Counselors" [online]
PubMed.gov, "Drug Flashbacks. II. Some additional findings." [online]
International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements, Record detail, "LSD flashback syndrome exacerbated
by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants in adolescents" [online]
93 93/93
Carl
Abstract of another article.
Psilocybin induces schizophrenia-like psychosis in humans via a
serotonin-2 agonist action.
Vollenweider FX, Vollenweider-Scherpenhuyzen MF, Bäbler A, Vogel H, Hell D.
Source
Research Department, Psychiatric University Hospital Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract
Psilocybin, an indoleamine hallucinogen, produces a psychosis-like syndrome in humans that resembles
first episodes of schizophrenia. In healthy human volunteers, the psychotomimetic effects of psilocybin
were blocked dose-dependently by the serotonin-2A antagonist ketanserin or the atypical antipsychotic
risperidone, but were increased by the dopamine antagonist and typical antipsychotic haloperidol. These
data are consistent with animal studies and provide the first evidence in humans that psilocybin-induced
psychosis is due to serotonin-2A receptor activation, independently of dopamine stimulation. Thus,
serotonin-2A overactivity may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and serotonin-2A
antagonism may contribute to therapeutic effects of antipsychotics.
PMID:
9875725
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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button to revert the control to an accessible version.
Destroy user interface controlPublication Types, MeSH Terms, Substances
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Destroy user interface controlLinkOut - more resources
93
Carl
You use government propaganda agencies to validate this?
They also tell you that if you’re using drugs while having sex w/someone w/AIDS, you’re more likely to
get AIDS yourself.
…sheesh!
93
Yes…and the “schizophrenic psychosis” is the very symptom one is striving for when using the
drug…your point?
93
pj
93
My opinion on the subject is this, that psychedelic substances, it seems to be generally agreed,
alter the brain (either chemically or structurally). I don't feel that simply giving "magic
mushrooms" to a depressive will cure anything. I know a few schizophrenic people who would
definitely NOT benefit from more LSD. Perhaps, however, under some supervision and intensive
therapy the drugs could be effective. In conjunction with psychological and behavioral therapy,
the drugs could be the key missing in these all but failing methods to "fix" these disorders. I
believe, and this is again, just my opinion, that those who have dropped acid and subsequently
were diagnosed with schizophrenia already had a predisposition to schizophrenia before taking
any so-called mind altering drugs. Psychedelics open up the mind, seems an alchemical process
really, and depending on the predisposition and the will of the operator, the effects will be
varied. Someone with a tendency to mental illness would probably only worsen their mental state
with psychedelics, unless the intent was self-healing, and they simultaneously pursued
complementary ways and means. It seems to me quite similar to ritual magick and mysticism and
the opening up of the mind and formulating the body of light. Anyone pursuing a path of
initiation should have their head examined and we mean that quite literally (to paraphrase
someone we all know and love).
93/93
PDT
Hi Paul,
93
My opinion on the subject is this, that psychedelic substances, it seems to be generally agreed,
alter the brain (either chemically or structurally). I don't feel that simply giving "magic
mushrooms" to a depressive will cure anything.
Everything alters the brain…if one is a vegetarian and another, a carnivore. A wine drinker is different
from a scotch drinker. All our senses act in constant ‘eucharist’ with all they perceive. People that
spend most of their day in walls painted blue are different from those that spend their day in walls
painted grey. People that smell the local Burger King all day are different from people that smell the
perfume of the local department store. There’s visual and aroma therapies, and there’s science to show
that certain areas of the brain that are used in depression-maintaining thought processes that early
studies are showing can be positively interrupted with the use of psychotropic substances.
I know a few schizophrenic people who would definitely NOT benefit from more LSD.
The purpose of the study was not to work with schizophrenia…but with depression. Remember, a
properly conducted magickal ceremony is a non-drug approach to the same ‘schizophrenia’ that LSD
produces. With the magickal ceremony, this occurs in a more controlled manner that meets with a
certain (shall we say) intellectual sophistication; though such sophistication is not necessarily necessary
in that we see aboriginal cultures have managed great feats without being very left-brained at all.
Perhaps, however, under some supervision and intensive therapy the drugs could be effective. In
conjunction with psychological and behavioral therapy, the drugs could be the key missing in
these all but failing methods to "fix" these disorders. I believe, and this is again, just my opinion,
that those who have dropped acid and subsequently were diagnosed with schizophrenia already
had a predisposition to schizophrenia before taking any so-called mind altering drugs.
Psychedelics open up the mind, seems an alchemical process really, and depending on the
predisposition and the will of the operator, the effects will be varied. Someone with a tendency to
mental illness would probably only worsen their mental state with psychedelics, unless the intent
was self-healing, and they simultaneously pursued complementary ways and means. It seems to
me quite similar to ritual magick and mysticism and the opening up of the mind and formulating
the body of light. Anyone pursuing a path of initiation should have their head examined and we
mean that quite literally (to paraphrase someone we all know and love).
As I’ve maintained for a long time, people come to the study of Magick in general, due to some form of
psychic disturbance. Such disturbance is often termed a disease in standard psychological models. But
sometimes, such ‘spiritual’ unrest is more a motivating evocation on the part of an individual to pursue
avenues of investigation, not unlike the avenues of the other sciences and entrepreneurial pursuits.
93/93
pj
Hi Paul,
93
What I really meant to say is that I think this is an are where we should be pursued with extreme caution.
My previous statement was just an assessment on your argument of authority, which is not a basis for an
intellectual trump card.
I’m not certain what you mean by “intellectual trump card.” But your challenge to authority was
fallacious. Doctors once bled patients to cure them of disease…does that mean we should stop listening
to doctors? Surely in modern psychological circles, the leading voices in these disciplines are calling out
from several countries for a serious look at psychotropic substances. Accepting this has been a part of
the culture of this list for some time…so that your challenge comes as a bit of a surprise in itself. Why
challenge this now? Are you arriving at a new opinion on the subject? Or are you simply paying
attention to it for the first time in your thinking?
If there is a consensus among the leading psychologists in the field, than the appeal to authority is
valid and I am incorrect.
I have read some of Timothy Leary's work and in the right set and setting perhaps there is a potential
benefit to be obtained from psychedelic therapy. Sandoz created both LSD and Psiloscybin (SP?) a very
long time ago. Leary was fired from Harvard over his methods and his brain was fried by the time he was
in his 60's -- not to say that he wasn't a happy guy though.
And how does this shoot down what contemporary Harvard psychologists and those of other
universities throughout several industrial countries have been stating as a result of research now, some
55 years later?
It doesn't, however, you stated previously that I had no idea of his work in the field. In fact, I have
read his work , "The Psychedelic Experience" on more than one occasion. I'm not saying this makes
me an expert, but your claim that I know nothing of his work is incorrect. The fact that his brain
was fried later in life would seem to indicate a need for long-term studies over decades.
I have had my own experience with both drugs, but never in a clinical environment. For me, I had one
"bad trip" experience, and it has had a lasting negative impact on my life. So, from my experience, and
there were indeed many good ones, the risk of permanent or intermittent psychological disturbance is
very real.
And you consider this an expert opinion?...to me it seems quite anecdotal. And your idea that a “risk of
permanent or intermittent psychological disturbance” being “very real” is based on what science? Are
you an expert because you dropped acid once?...or is it that you’ve been working with some of these
leading psychologists?
I am sharing my experience. I have experienced it on many more than one occasion as you would
understand if you read where i said I experimented with the drug in my late teens through early
twenties. How many trips I took, I can't say, but easily more than a dozen. Does this make me an
expert? No. Is it alright for me to share my experience? Yes. Had i had an appropriate guide on my bad
experience, perhaps it would have been more positive. But i make no claim to be any type of expert.
Had I been using the drugs in a controlled set and setting with a certified guide, then perhaps there would
have been a different outcome. I was in my late teens and early twenties when I experimented with these
powerful drugs and I think that they do permanently alter consciousness and do so in many beneficial
ways. But there are risks, of anxiety, flashbacks from "bad trips", and it is a fact that they can bring
on schizophrenic (or schizophrenic-like) episodes even weeks, months, or years after the experience.
So, in other words, you bought the government propaganda on “flashbacks” from “bad trips”…eh? And
do you also believe that LSD alters your genetic structure? And I guess you think reefer makes you a
mad murderer and serial rapist…?
No, I haven't bought the propaganda. I have experienced it first hand. I have also talked to others,
some of whom you know and have shared in many trips with me, who agree with my opinions on the
subject. As I said before, this is sharing experience. I make no claims as an expert. Your last sentence is
hyperbolic. Of course the answer to that is no, I do not think that. Flashbacks, anxiety
and schizophrenic episodes are not government propaganda, but documented phenomena. You
even go on to ask rhetorically in another email something to the effect of "isn't schizophreniclike symptoms what we are striving for?"
Don't I have a right to share my experience without being castigated?
93/93
Carl
Hi Paul, PDT and all other contributors,
93
I have changed my opinion through this discussion. These are very powerful drugs and do deserve to be
researched. I still think that there are many caveats that need to be heeded in their use. But thank you
all for your contributions on the subject. I hope my experiential contributions were worthy of the time
expended in your reading and my writing them.
93/93
Carl