Magic mushrooms: Psilocybin mushrooms as a treatment for mental illness

Part 3. Magic mushrooms

Psilocybin, a hallucinogenic compound found in certain types of mushrooms, has been widely discussed lately as a psychedelic treatment for conditions such as depression and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and when used under careful supervision, these therapies are proving to be promising.

Currently, large research centers such as the Center for Psychedelic Neuroscience at Massachusetts General Hospital are investigating psilocybin as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression, as psychedelics may be useful in facilitating new neural connections .

 

What happens in the brain when consuming psilocybin mushrooms?

In a June 2022 CNN report , journalist Sandee LaMotte notes in the interview that, according to Matthew Johnson, professor of psychedelics and consciousness at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,

"When someone takes psilocybin, we see an overall increase in connectivity between areas of the brain that normally don't communicate well." "We also see the opposite: local networks in the brain that normally interact quite a bit with each other suddenly communicate less."

According to David Nutt, director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit at Imperial College London's Division of Brain Sciences, it creates a "very, very disorganised brain", ultimately breaking down the normal boundaries between the auditory, visual, executive and sense of self sections of the mind, thus creating a state of "altered consciousness".

And it is this disorganization that is ultimately therapeutic, because, according to Nutt: "Depressed people are constantly self-critical, beating themselves up, repeating the same negative, anxious or fearful thoughts over and over again."

"Psychedelics disrupt that, and that's why people can suddenly see a way out of their depression during a session. Critical thoughts are easier to control and thinking is more flexible. That's why the drug is an effective treatment for depression," according to Nutt. ( source )

Although psilocybin is being used in certain specific research settings and treatments, in the United States it is a Schedule 1 substance, meaning it is not legal for personal use, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Benefits of psilocybin mushrooms

• They would promote creativity thanks to the stimulation of stem cells through neurogenesis starting from the cells of the environment, which increases intelligence, creativity, peace because, according to Stamets, psilocybin mushrooms organically change the mind.

Psychedelics appear to help neurons in the brain sprout new dendrites, increasing the connection between cells. According to David Nutt,

"These drugs can increase neuronal growth, increase this branching of neurons, increase synapses. That's called neuroplasticity."

“This is different from neurogenesis, which is the development of new brain cells, usually from stem cells in the body. The growth of dendrites helps build and then solidify new circuits in the brain, allowing us, for example, to establish more positive pathways as we practice gratitude.”

It should be known that SSRIs (serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors) also increase neuroplasticity, although in a 2022 phase 2 randomized controlled trial comparing psilocybin to Escitalopram, a traditional SSRI, Nutt found that the latter did not do the same “magic.”

According to Nutt, “The SSRI did not increase brain connectivity, and in fact did not improve well-being as much as psilocybin. Now, for the first time, brain science aligns with what patients say after a trip: ‘I feel more connected. I can think more freely. I can escape negative thoughts and I don’t get caught up in them. ’” ( source )

• They have been shown to effectively relieve depression resistant to conventional treatment. According to pharmacologist Brian Roth, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,

“Psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD enter the brain through the same receptors as serotonin, the body’s “feel-good” hormone. Serotonin helps control bodily functions like sleep, sexual desire, and psychological states like contentment, happiness, and optimism.

People with depression or anxiety often have low serotonin levels, as do people with post-traumatic stress disorder, migraines, anorexia, tobacco addiction and substance abuse. Treatment often involves selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, which increase the levels of serotonin available to brain cells. However, experts say it can take weeks for improvement to occur, if the drugs work at all.

However, with psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD, scientists can observe changes in the connectivity of brain neurons in the lab " within 30 minutes ." ( source )

• Quitting smoking and other addictions. According to Dr. Matthew Johnson, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, psilocybin has the potential to treat substance use disorders, including alcohol and cocaine.

• Psychological distress linked to cancer. A 2016 experiment at Johns Hopkins found that a single dose of psilocybin substantially improved quality of life and decreased both depression and anxiety in people diagnosed with fatal cancers.

• To treat migraines. According to research conducted in 2017, psychoactive substances such as psilocybin may help relieve cluster headaches and migraines. ( source )

Use of psilocybin since ancient times

Personally, with this research, I have been struck by the fact that psilocybin mushrooms grow all over the planet, with slight differences in appearance, but with the same medicinal potency. It has even been speculated that psilocybin mushrooms would be like a kind of missing link thanks to which we went from being hominids to being intelligent humans. ( source )

In the article The Stoned Ape Hypothesis: Did Magic Mushrooms Influence Human Evolution? author Robert Lamb quotes Dennis McKenna, author of “Food of the Gods,” who posits that,

“It is known that brain size has tripled in size over the last 2 million years, and probably the ecosystems that bring together hominids, cattle and fungi were that old” referring to the landmarks from which psilocybin mushrooms emerge.

According to Dr. Thomas Falk, a professor of philosophy and education at the University of Dayton, the hypothesis provides an explanation for the supposed “creative explosion” that occurred 40,000 years ago during the Homo sapiens period, prior to the migration from Africa to Europe. It is there that an apparent leap in human cognitive ability is perceived.

“For the first time, these humans lived in worlds of their own creation, both symbolically and materially. They were able to create worlds in their minds and recreate those worlds in external environments, both physical and social.”

“Although other Homo species would have exploited nature efficiently, they remained passive. The key to this main distinction between Homo sapiens sapiens and all other hominids appears to be language.”

Terence McKenna’s “Food of the Gods” strengthens this argument based on the outstanding qualities of the psychedelic experience (such as heightened empathy and sensory perception), shamanic traditions in ancient cultures, and the recognized and hypothesized range of psychedelic plants and mushrooms in ancient times, Lamb argues.

Indigenous and historical use

Modern attention to psilocybin begins with the discovery of Aztec ceremonies during Spanish colonization. It is difficult to determine when or where these traditions began, although some researchers estimate that religious practices involving psilocybin mushrooms occurred in the Valley of Mexico and the rest of Central America about 3,500 years ago. [1]

 

Use of psilocybin mushrooms today

Today, pharmaceutical companies are trying to implement psilocybin in capsules during a session in which the patient lies on a table, with his or her eyes covered with a mask and wearing headphones with selected music, while the person facilitating the session holds his or her hand.

However, according to Paul Stamets, people prefer to consume it within a ceremonial setting, where the person leading the ceremony also consumes it and assists the participants, in the style of the Mexican shaman Maria Sabina, with her invocation chants, music and eventually, depending on the need, a healing. This evidently enhances the effects of psilocybin.

 

The Mazatec ceremony with psilocybin mushrooms or “teonanacatl”

The text ELSI Research Report: State Regulation for Psilocybin: Recommendations for the Oregon Heath Authority mentions a photo report published in LIFE magazine in 1957, where Robert Gordon Wasson, an American banker and amateur mycologist describes a ceremony led by the Mazatec healer María Sabina and her daughter:

In the report, Wasson recounts an evening with a mix of Christian and pre-Christian elements. “ The ceremony took place at night, in almost total darkness, before a simple altar decorated with Catholic images in the basement, like a ceremonial room in a private home. According to Wasson, 20 participants arrived dressed in their finest clothes and, like the Aztecs, began the ceremony by drinking chocolate. There were children present, although they did not participate in the ceremony.

After Maria Sabina and her daughter cleaned the mushrooms, they passed them through the smoke of copal resin incense, and then the healers gave the participants cups with their personal doses. Wasson and her photographer received six pairs of mushrooms each. The healers received 13 pairs each. Then, with a solemn chant in her native language, Maria Sabina began her invocation of the spirit of the mushrooms in the name of Christ and the saints before reciting her good intentions and then impatiently pleading with the spirits: “You are a mouth that seeks you, but you do not pay attention to me. Come!”

The psilocybin mushrooms, which were referred to as dangerous, were never eaten frivolously and were never sold on the market. According to Wasson, the congregation is indispensable for the rite, although this does not mean that the mushrooms lose their potency if they are not eaten together with other people.

The Mazatec used mushrooms in a particularly therapeutic way, not as a cure but rather as a way to determine "what led to the illness and whether the patient will live or die, and what should be done to speed recovery." For example, by ingesting the mushrooms, healers reported that they could learn the location of wild herbs that they could find and apply to their patients. The Mazatec also consult mushrooms for information on non-health-related issues. Sometimes a ceremony or "Velada" is requested by someone who wishes to consult the mushrooms about a serious family concern. [2]

How does the body react after consuming psilocybin mushrooms?

The following are the effects of consuming psilocybin mushrooms during a ceremony:

• Increase in positive energy.
• Feeling of well-being and satisfaction.
• View of the world from a different perspective.
• Alteration in the perception of space-time.
• Feeling of unity with the universe. Feeling that we are one with every living being.
• Increased musical perception

 

Are we ready for a paradigm shift?

These medicines and substances are a door to a greater dimension and ignoring the ceremonial phase or what the traditional way of use by indigenous people provides would stagnate or at least make incomplete the healing of those patients who seek it.

Psilocybin mushrooms offer more components than a pharmaceutical molecule that can be effective against diseases.

In the words of Françoise Bourzat , “in the Mexican tradition, communion with this medicine establishes a relationship with the ancestors, people who have already passed away, with the other side of the veil.”

Being in the medical field, according to Bourzat, María Sabina and this tradition have become an ally not only for people with problems of depression or post-traumatic stress syndrome, or alcoholism, among others; but also for people who are in psychological distress at the end of their lives.

Controlled use and under the supervision of a therapist or ceremonial guide

Psilocybin affects the cardiovascular system and may cause an increase in blood pressure or heart rate.

For these reasons, it is now recommended that psilocybin be administered in a clinic by doctors or therapists specially trained for such purposes. It should not be available on the street, where people might sell it or take too much of it, or take too many pills from a prescription. It should even not be used outside of a ceremonial setting.

How long do the results last?

In the studies conducted so far, Professor Nutt notes that “it depends on the individual’s organism: two people have had it work for eight years on a single session of psilocybin.” However, people with chronic depression can have symptoms again after 12 months, according to Dr Natalie Gukasyan of Johns Hopkins. ( source )

In chronic patients, the possibility of administering another dose of psilocybin or returning to using SSRIs once the mood improves to keep the depression under control is still being studied.

Although genetics may play a role in many mental disorders, because serotonin receptors vary in some cases, a person's DNA is unlikely to be the only factor influencing response to psychedelic treatments.

How a person responds to psychedelic treatment may also include their willingness to engage in psychotherapy, their willingness to be self-compassionate, as well as the severity of their trauma and the early stage in life when it began.

These factors affect not only mental health treatment, but any treatment. But especially in this case, the willingness of the person to undergo a procedure that alters their consciousness is crucial, because once that person has made the decision to heal, 80% of the healing has already taken place.

References

[1] Francisco J. Carod-Artal, Hallucinogenic Drugs in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Cultures , 30 NEUROLOGY 42 (2015). See also Ralph Metzner, Visionary Mushrooms of the Americas , in SACRED MUSHROOM OF VISIONS: TEONANÁCATL 11 (2004) (discussing the miniature mushroom stones, some of which date back to 1000 BCE, that have been found in the lands of the ancient Maya in Guatemala, Ecuador, and Southern Mexico and noting that they are currently understood to be effigies of a mushroom deity).

[2] Harvard Law School. Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics.12-12-2021.