Instapundit links to a Medical Express report of research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine which found that treatment with psilocybin, the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms," is efficacious for those suffering from depression.
Previous studies by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers showed that psychedelic treatment with psilocybin relieved major depressive disorder symptoms in adults for up to a month. Now, in a follow-up study of those participants, the researchers report that the substantial antidepressant effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy, given with supportive psychotherapy, may last at least a year for some patients.A report on the new study was published on Feb. 15, 2022 in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Good news for those with the can't-shake-'em blues. Sufferers are cautioned not to attempt such treatment in unsupervised, non-clinical settings.
Afterthought: I have long believed a substantial portion of street drug usage is the result of psychiatrically hurting people self-medicating to either reduce mental chaos or achieve temporary oblivion. Maybe a few have inadvertently stumbled across an actual long-term palliative.
