Magic Mushrooms helped terminally ill cancer patients overcome the anxiety of coping with their last days, according to a 2005 study. Los Angeles researchers released a study Tuesday showing the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, psilocybin, when given to a critically ill patient, will assist them manage having the depression making it easier to deal with the whole ordeal. Study on psychedelic drugs had to stop when the federal government made it illegal to use drugs such as LSD that are mind altering in the 1970s. The shrooms study is something that many scientists who hope hallucinogens can be used clinically again one day really appreciate.
Hallucinogens ease fear of dying
The Archives of General Psychiatry is a prestigious psychiatric journal that has the magic mushroom study results published in it. Under clinical supervision, 12 patients that had a terminal diagnosis got small doses of psilocybin, reports CNN. A control group took a placebo, which had little effect. The mood of patients was better while there was less anxiety after one to three months of taking psilocybin. There was a 30 percent drop in depression amongst the group after only six months. Perspectives on life were changed for some of these patients. They grew closer to family and friends as well.
More study within the future having psychedelic drugs
The magic mushroom experiment researchers are trying to get more funding to conduct more experiments. ABC News reports that psilocybin acts on the region of the brain responsible for nonverbal imagery and emotion. Numerous cultures have used magic mushroom hallucinogens for a long time. Cultural and political conflict brought therapeutic research with psychedelic drugs to a halt within the 1970s. A professor of psychiatry at Harbor-USLA Medical Center called Dr. Charles Grob said to ABC News that “40 years later, society has reached a point where it is sufficiently mature to deal with these compounds in a safe and structured manner,” as he lead the shrooms studies.
Don’t use at home
Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University explained that psilocybin studies are easy to do safely considering the magic mushroom analysis, not even taking into account that hallucinogens are beneficial in a clinical use. Griffiths, who is conducting his own study using psilocybin, told the Los Angeles Times the research conducted on psychedelic drugs within the 1950s and ’60s “was promising, however by no means did it reach the kinds of scientific standards that we would expect today.”. The Times said Griffiths and Grob had to satisfy many federal and local regulators to get approval for the experiments. The researchers discouraged cancer patients from using magic mushrooms on their own. The studies screened subjects, strictly regulated their doses and prepared them to minimize the chance of a bad trip.
CNN
cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/06/magic.mushrooms.ease.anxiety/?hpt=T2
ABC News
abcnews.go.com/Health/ucla-study-finds-magic-mushrooms-curb-anxiety-advanced/story?id=11568335
Los Angeles Times
latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-magic-mushrooms-20100907,,4230087.story?track=rss
