Can Psychedelic Drugs Transform How We Treat Depression?

Almost all patients of severe depression got better within a week, nearly half had no episode in 3 months

A high-profile study sponsored by the UK Medical Research Council had earlier given the ‘shrooms some scientific credibility.

(Photo: iStock altered by FIT)

That Magic Mushrooms and LSD can alter your mind is well known. Their mind bending prowess made them the drug of choice for hippies in the 60’s and 70’s.

But well before the disco era, they were first introduced and experimented with by scientists for their medicinal properties.

Decades later, scientists are once again looking at the ability of these mind altering psychedelics to heal mental health disorders, specially treatment resistant depression.

After a number of small studies both in the UK and in US have shown promise, researchers at Imperial College London will start the first major trial into whether one of these drugs could be more effective than a leading antidepressant in the treatment of depression, according to BBC.

They will compare the magic mushroom compound psilocybin with a leading antidepressant. The trail is expected to last atleast 2 years.

Earlier, a first of its kind human clinical trial of the hallucination-inducing “magic” mushrooms had found that they could help some people blunt years of acute depression. These findings were published in Lancet Psychiatry.

Although illegal in most of countries, British researchers were able to cut through the red tape and test the effects of this drug on a group of 12 severely depressed, treatment-resistant people. The results were remarkable.

All volunteers had been struggling with severe depression for more than 30 years. 67% of them had a considerable improvement in their condition in less than a week with just two doses of treatment. More than 40% of them had no episode of depression till as long as three months.

The big question then, what’s so magical about ‘shrooms that it could cut through decades of depression when no other medication could?

Your Brain On the Boomers

Clinical depression is a debilitating disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide. Psilocybin stimulates receptors for serotonin, a naturally occurring chemical in the brain that affects mood (Photo: iStock altered by FIT)

The main psycho-active ingredient in ‘shrooms is called ‘psilocybin’ - when ingested it increases the activity of serotonin in the brain and also stimulates a similar chemical activity. This amplified stimulation takes you on a ‘magical journey’ of hallucinations for several hours.

It is unknown exactly how did magic mushrooms do its thing in curing the blues but what is known is that the same chemical reaction which gives a high also re-arranges some neurotransmitters involved in mood regulation in the brain permanently. In clinical depression, these neurotransmitters are out of balance and it is possible that a single event of popping in this part drug can help overcome illnesses like depression.

(PS: This study is not an indication that people with a mental health issue should quit their treatment and do psychedelics - in the researchers own words, ‘it could do more harm than good if not handled properly’)

Other Party Drugs That Might Have Medical Use

The use of illegal drugs in medicinal capacity is a highly controversial topic. The potential risks of incorrect self-diagnosis, that of dependence or abuse make it subject of a contentious debate.

However, scientists continue to find surprising number of health benefits in drugs widely used for recreational purposes.

Ecstasy

(Photo: FIT)

A research in 2011, by the University of Birmingham found that a slightly modified form of ecstasy was 100 times more potent at destroying cancer cells than its original form of MDMA. The research was considered a giant leap in cancer medication. Due to lack of funds it was never taken to the next level.

LSD

(Photo: FIT)

LSD was widely studied in the 60s in the US. Back then it was found that it can effectively cure alcoholism by 50%. More recently, scientists at the University of Baltimore have taken up this research to see again how good this drug is in curing alcoholism, opium and heroin addiction.

Cannabis

Until its prohibition in the late 1930s in US, it was amongst the top three most prescribed drugs over there. When it became illegal, its use in medicine was prohibited, however, research has found weed to be a very effective cure for heroin addiction (Photo: FIT)

It may seem strange to treat an addiction to a illegal drug with another illegal substance but deaths by opiod painkillers have fallen by just under one quarter in American states where medical marijuana has been legalised.

Ketamine

This animal tranquilizer, also called “special K,” is quite a steal at treating clinical depression, anxiety in cases where regular treatments failed (Photo: The Quint)(Photo: FIT)

A study by the Connecticut Mental Health Center found that 70% of their test group, none of whom had any luck with traditional depression treatments, responded positively to Ketamine treatment. Even more interesting was the fact that the drug was able to repair neuron connections in the brain that had previously been damaged by chronic stress.

The point is that all these studies raise is that there is a potent scope of treating deadly diseases the alternative way. Simple question, are the findings interesting enough to pursue further research? My logical side says, yes. Yes, scientists should take them forward because there is an acute lack of credible alternative medicine.

Disclaimer: Self-medicating, or using drugs without the assistance of a doctor or other medical professional can be deadly and dangerous.

Your Brain On the Boomers

Clinical depression is a debilitating disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide. Psilocybin stimulates receptors for serotonin, a naturally occurring chemical in the brain that affects mood (Photo: iStock altered by The Quint)

The main psycho-active ingredient in ‘shrooms is called ‘psilocybin’ - when ingested it increases the activity of serotonin in the brain and also stimulates a similar chemical activity. This amplified stimulation takes you on a ‘magical journey’ of hallucinations for several hours.

It is unknown exactly how did magic mushrooms do its thing in curing the blues but what is known is that the same chemical reaction which gives a high also re-arranges some neurotransmitters involved in mood regulation in the brain permanently. In clinical depression, these neurotransmitters are out of balance and it is possible that a single event of popping in this part drug can help overcome illnesses like depression.

None of the patients in the trial had any side-effects from the boomers - all of them showed improvement in their mental state within a week, and remarkably 5 of them did not have a single episode of depression for more than three months.

The study has been published in medical journal Lancet Psychiatry and has two flaws:

• The sample size was small,
  
• There was no control group that received a placebo, so the actual comparison can’t be obtained.
  

It is extremely rare for people with severe depression to recover spontaneously with just two doses and that too for long-term. Agreed the survey size was small, but this novel use of psychedelics comes at a time when the World Health Organisation describes depression as a ‘leading cause for disability world wide’ and anti-depressants don’t work for about one in five patients.

At a price close to Rs 1 and a half lakh per volunteer and 30 months to acquire the license for the first trial using psychedelics to treat depression in the modern era, the research wasn’t cheap. Scientists hope the success of this trial will help secure additional funding for a large-scale follow-up trial.

(PS: This study is not an indication that people with a mental health issue should quit their treatment and do psychedelics - in the researchers own words, ‘it could do more harm than good if not handled properly’)

Other Party Drugs That Might Have Medical Use

The use of illegal drugs in medicinal capacity is a highly controversial topic. The potential risks of incorrect self-diagnosis, that of dependence or abuse make it subject of a contentious debate.

However, scientists continue to find surprising number of health benefits in drugs widely used for recreational purposes.

Ecstasy

(Photo: The Quint)

A research in 2011, by the University of Birmingham found that a slightly modified form of ecstasy was 100 times more potent at destroying cancer cells than its original form of MDMA. The research was considered a giant leap in cancer medication. Due to lack of funds it was never taken to the next level.

LSD

(Photo: The Quint)

LSD was widely studied in the 60s in the US. Back then it was found that it can effectively cure alcoholism by 50%. More recently, scientists at the University of Baltimore have taken up this research to see again how good this drug is in curing alcoholism, opium and heroin addiction.

Cannabis

Until its prohibition in the late 1930s in US, it was amongst the top three most prescribed drugs over there. When it became illegal, its use in medicine was prohibited, however, research has found weed to be a very effective cure for heroin addiction (Photo: The Quint)

It may seem strange to treat an addiction to a illegal drug with another illegal substance but deaths by opiod painkillers have fallen by just under one quarter in American states where medical marijuana has been legalised.

Ketamine

This animal tranquilizer, also called “special K,” is quite a steal at treating clinical depression, anxiety in cases where regular treatments failed (Photo: The Quint)

A study by the Connecticut Mental Health Center found that 70% of their test group, none of whom had any luck with traditional depression treatments, responded positively to Ketamine treatment. Even more interesting was the fact that the drug was able to repair neuron connections in the brain that had previously been damaged by chronic stress.

The point is that all these studies raise is that there is a potent scope of treating deadly diseases the alternative way. Simple question, are the findings interesting enough to pursue further research? My logical side says, yes. Yes, scientists should take them forward because there is an acute lack of credible alternative medicine.

Disclaimer: Self-medicating, or using drugs without the assistance of a doctor or other medical professional can be deadly and dangerous.