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Psychiatry professor believes that psilocybin has potential to reset the behaviours and cognitions of those with eating disorders by changing neural pathways.

Magic mushrooms’ for eating disorders? Drug company running trials at B.C. university

Dr. C. Laird Birmingham, Psychiatry professor with expertise in eating disorders, believes that psilocybin has potential to reset the behaviours and cognitions of those with eating disorders by changing neural pathways. NeonMind Biosciences Inc. is working with Dr. Birmingham at the University of British Columbia in preclinical trials to determine if psilocybin could be used to change the unconscious response to emotional situations that can trigger food-related addictions.

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Psilocybin-assisted therapy 4 times more effective than antidepressants

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy produces large, rapid, and sustained antidepressant effects

A clinical trial showed psilocybin-assisted therapy was 4 times more effective at treating major depressive disorder than antidepressant drugs. 27 participants with a long-term history of depression received 11 hours of therapy in addition to two full-day psilocybin-assisted therapy sessions, two weeks apart. Patients received the doses of psilocybin while lying on a couch with eyeshades and listening to music through headphones, and clinical monitors provided guidance and support throughout the experience. Four weeks after the treatment, 71% of participants saw at least a 50% reduction in depression scores, and 54% of participants were in remission from depression.

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Johns Hopkins study found that psilocybin is more effective at treating nicotine addiction than the leading drug, with 80% quitting after single dose

More Than A Trip: Psychedelic Drugs Being Used To Help People Quit Smoking In Just One Dose

A study at Johns Hopkins Behavioral Biology Research Center found that 80% of participants were able to quit smoking for at least six months after taking one dose of psilocybin, including one participant who was a heavy smoker for over 25 years. This suggests that psilocybin therapy is over twice as effective as the leading smoking cessation drug, varenicline, which has a 35% success rate after six months. Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu explains that psilocybin is effective for treating addiction because it changes the way the brain makes connections, which can “interrupt old patterns, well-worn neuro pathways, or habits.”

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Two thirds of study participants say psilocybin trip was spiritually significant and increased life satisfaction

Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later

In a Johns Hopkins study, 36 volunteers who had never taken hallucinogens were given high doses of psilocybin. They were told to “focus explicitly on the phenomenology of the drug experience rather than perform tasks”. 14 months after the trip, 67% of participants rated it as one of the top five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives, and six people said it was the single most spiritually significant experience. 64% said the experience increased their well-being and life satisfaction.

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