PIONEERING medical trials have shown psilocybin, a powerful hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms, to be effective in treating depression.

Magic mushrooms have been used by shamanistic cultures for centuries as they were believed to facilitate communication with ancestors and spirits. 

Psilocybin, far less potent than LSD, induces dramatic changes in mood, thought, and perception. Trials are exploring the drug’s use in the treatment of depression by allowing the patient to journey into their mind re-living memories and confronting trauma. 

Psilocybin produces effects such as auditory and visual hallucinations, spiritual epiphanies, euphoria and a sense of connectivity beginning 45 minutes after ingestion and lasting four to six hours. Trial participants have said that the experience can be life-changing.

One such trial in 2016 at Imperial College London treating a small group of patients suffering with decades of depression saw their symptoms reduce after ingesting capsules of a high dose of psilocybin. Three months later half of patients reported their depression to be reduced by 50% or more.

Further studies have examined psilocybin’s effectiveness for depression in the 40%of cancer patients approaching terminal diseases like cancer. Patients reported improvements in mood directly after the drug’s consumption with results remaining unchanged at a follow-up of six months later. 

Robin Carhart-Harris, head researcher at Imperial, believes psilocybin could be a licensed medicine within five years with Oakland and Denver, US, the most recent cities to decriminalise the drug this year. 

Carhart-Harris said: “Psilocybin would be an irresistible force in treating depression, and it would be indefensible to ignore the weight of evidence supporting its effectiveness.”

Despite Psilocybin’s effectiveness the drug remains controversial due to extreme side effects such as irregular heart beat, hallucinations and ‘bad trips’ involving disturbing thoughts and in some circumstances temporary psychosis. Despite the potential benefits psilocybin is a potent psychedelic and should an individual decide to use psilocybin they should do so in a clinical setting