Misc. news stories

Former heavyweight champion calls psilocybin an ‘amazing medicine’.

Image from:Glenn Francis (Toglenn) (Wiki Commons)

As the drug inches toward regulatory approval, desperate people are going underground to treat urgent mental health issues.

BY THE TIME Sophie took MDMA for the first time at my mental health clinic, she was willing to try just about anything. Now in her late fifties, Sophie (not her real name) had struggled for most of her life with post-traumatic stress disorder, suffering from insomnia, hypervigilance, and flashbacks to the abuse she suffered as a child.

Study analysing brain scans of people finds psychedelic drug lowers barriers that constrain thoughts.

Scientists have started to investigate whether psilocybin could be helpful to those who suffer from migraine headache. Their new findings, published in Neurotherapeutics, provide preliminary evidence that the drug could provide long-lasting therapeutic benefits to migraine sufferers.

From treating depression to understanding consciousness, the promise of psychedelics is shifting their study from fringe to frontier neuroscience.

A recent case study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers provides evidence that a promising option for patients with chronic itch may already be available: medical marijuana (cannabis).

Vancouver-based company Halugen has recently launched a genetic test that purportedly screens for genetic variants influencing how a person may respond to certain psychedelic drugs. But some researchers are skeptical there is any evidence to suggest genetic screening can predict how a person will response to psychedelics.

In an important step toward medical approval, MDMA, the illegal drug popularly known as Ecstasy or Molly, was shown to bring relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder when paired with talk therapy.

Researchers have identified a psychedelic that doesn’t trigger hallucinations, a key discovery that could allow scientists to accelerate the development of easy-to-use treatments for mental health and neurological conditions.

People under the influence of psilocybin — the active component of magic mushrooms — report having more profound and original thoughts, but tend to score lower on cognitive tests of creative ability, according to new research published in Translational Psychiatry.

Leonie, 44, knew where her depression came from – but that didn’t make it any easier to live with.

Image from: Ralpharama (Wiki Commons)

Psychiatry has long failed to explain depression. Our research into psilocybin suggests a new approach could offer answers

Psychedelic drug psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms, is as good at reducing symptoms of depression as conventional treatment, a small, early-stage study has suggested.But when it comes to actively improving people’s well-being and ability to feel pleasure, the psychedelic drug may have had a more powerful effect.

There is no shortage of psychological and pharmacological therapies to combat the world’s most widespread mental health issue, major depressive disorder (MDD). However, a significant portion of the affected population fail to respond to many of these traditional therapies