Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, might just revolutionize how depression and anxiety are treated in cancer patients. In a groundbreaking trial, a single dose combined with therapy significantly reduced emotional suffering, and these effects often lasted over two years. As follow-up studies expand the research to multiple doses and larger samples, scientists are eyeing a possible new standard of care that merges psychedelics with psychological support.
I didn’t have depression, but I wanted to try the experience after hearing how much someone I knew enjoyed it. I had a terrible trip (in a safe space, with good intentions, an experienced user I trusted very deeply, etc. etc. etc.) and suddenly developed pretty gnarly depression and felt like an unnamed part of my brain was missing/out of reach for over 2 years… I’m only one data point and my experience seems uncommon, but I definitely won’t be touching shrooms ever again. It’s only in the last 6 or so months that I’ve felt more “myself” and have been making progress out of the hole I was dropped into.
Entirely believable, literally nothing is 100% the same for every individual person