'Magic mushrooms' may help 'reset' depressive brains, study claims

Conclusion For people with depression who are not helped by conventional treatment such as antidepressants and talking therapies, studies such as this one may offer a glimmer of hope. This and previous studies on psilocybin suggest it may one day become a treatment option for people with a range of psychiatric conditions. It's important to note that this is experimental, early-stage research. The study lacked a control group, so it's hard to know whether the improvement in mood, or the changes seen on MRI scans, can be attributed to the drug. The study is very small and we should bear in mind that half of those taking part did not see a 50% reduction in depression symptoms after 5 weeks, suggesting they gained little real benefit. Changes in brain function may help explain the effect of psilocybin and similar drugs. Previous studies with healthy (non-depressed) volunteers have shown changes in brain function after people took psychedelic drugs. The suggestion of a "re-set" or "reboot" sounds plausible, especially in an age when we are all used to fixing computers by turning them off and on again. The idea of temporarily "powering down" the brain to fix problems is intuitively easy to grasp. However, we need to see further studies to know whether this treatment offers a comparable solution to the brain as the off switch does for computers. Your GP is the first port of call if you have, or think you may have, depression. We strongly advise against ...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Source Type: news