Live data from Hacker News

Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

bbc.co.uk

201–210 of 324 posts

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#201
post #103
post #15

The study was just published in the most prestigious medical journal in the world [1]. Whatever you think of the study, this is rather significant. If you told me even 2 years ago there would be a randomised trial of magic mushrooms in NEJM, I would not have believed it for even a second. One point not to miss is that they screened 1000 patients to come up with the study population of 59. Nevertheless, I consider the…

2 doses of psilocybin, vs 6 weeks of SSRI's..! They also seem to cite a big difference in lasting happiness, altough that wasnt the focus of the study.

You can clearly see why psilocybin is illegal. Follow the money... I hope one day the companies and people behind this will go to jail.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a lot of people whose minds were ruined by psychedelics. It’s something you will see when you spend time in those communities. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but it’s common.

This type of empty fear mongering comment is unhelpful at best. It's a McDonalds of a comment. What's a lot of people? Why are psychedelics so special compared to anything else (sugar, Facebook, gambling). "It doesn't happen to everyone, but it's common" - what does this even mean? "Common" based on what criterion? How should our behaviour as a society change based on your comment?

It seems to be an appropriate response to an anecdote.

"I've seen it work"

"I've also seen it fail"

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#203
post #15

The study was just published in the most prestigious medical journal in the world [1]. Whatever you think of the study, this is rather significant. If you told me even 2 years ago there would be a randomised trial of magic mushrooms in NEJM, I would not have believed it for even a second. One point not to miss is that they screened 1000 patients to come up with the study population of 59. Nevertheless, I consider the…

The definition of treatment resistant depression is one of the filters that narrows down the list. A subject must have tried at least two different antidepressants for a certain length of time and within the last few years, in addition to therapy. So, someone who has taken antidepressants for years doesn't automatically qualify.

This is crazy. It's like cart manufacturers lobbied government that anyone who want to buy a car would first have to use a horse and a cart and only be allowed to buy a car if the cart and a horse causes significant problem. Am I the only one seeing corruption here?

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#204
post #162

I was not able to speak to my father, let alone staying in the same room were he was, for about 26 years (~18yr old till recently ~44yr). The background for this was my choice of leaving an ultra orthodox jewish community and going on my own. I recently tried that (after 3 years of hesitation) and the magic happened. It affected my structure of feelings in several ways indeed, but in the context of this one, I would…

What's your take on allowing a substance to change you so much?

The substance turns your thought process inward. You think about the thoughts you are having, and the associations behind those thoughts much more deeply than you otherwise would. You think about ordinary, everyday things in a much deeper way. This is what changes you. You could do the same thing with meditation probably.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have zero experience with drugs, so I am wondering if there is a sugar/cigarette industry that put a lot of money into promoting it's products, then what will be different when drugs get legalized? Won't we repeat the history where companies make billions from this products, put them into ads to spread the use and addict people, suppress research into bad side effects etc,. Personally I think there are some good ap…

Sure, for weed maybe. But psychedelics are very different. They're really, genuinely not addictive -- probably because they're not "fun." In fact, they're exhausting. You may feel a lot better after, the experience may be fascinating, but you're in absolutely no hurry to do it again. The whole thing lasts a few hours, but literally feels like months, with numerous epochs along the way. It's not like the kind of hollo…

I don't think that it is a "fun" factor that keeps people addicted. It's the fear of withdrawals.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#206
post #162

I was not able to speak to my father, let alone staying in the same room were he was, for about 26 years (~18yr old till recently ~44yr). The background for this was my choice of leaving an ultra orthodox jewish community and going on my own. I recently tried that (after 3 years of hesitation) and the magic happened. It affected my structure of feelings in several ways indeed, but in the context of this one, I would…

I think people should be generally afraid of any substance that can I give long term personality changes with just a few doses, sometimes even with a doctor's help.

I see this argument a lot, and I think it is more hollow than it appears. I am certainly not the same person now that I was 10 years ago. Indeed, I am different than the person I was 1 year ago. Life happens, people change. Directing this change with psilocybin seems like a reasonable choice. Sometimes it may misfire, and you will be a bit worse off; but sometimes humans get depressed, angry, or otherwise negative for lots of other reasons.

I watched a movie once that made me deeply depressed for weeks. Thin may have permanently changed my personality too. Should we ban movies because they make people feel and think things that they haven't felt and thought before? (That's as close as I'll get to cancel culture uproar in this post)

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

doesn't sound like their "minds were ruined", but rather that they have different priorities than you and that you're narrowminded and judgemental.

>but rather that they have different priorities than you and that you're narrowminded and judgemental. Having been loosely affiliated with the Goa/Psytrance scene, I too, have met some individuals who seemed to have "fried" their brains. If those "different priorities", how you call it, also include being almost dysfunctional and therefore dependent on constant external support, paranoid and frequently incoherent the…

The thing is, it's not at all clear this was caused by psychedelics, so much as psychedelics and the lifestyle that goes with it shape the sort of dysfunction we observe.

If they had been in the midwestern USA would they also be dysfunctional but taking prescription painkillers? Mental health problems are common, and confirmation bias is real.

There is also the danger of reverse causation — and this may apply to cannabis. The epidemiology there suggests psychosis may cause people to take cannabis at higher rates, rather than the reverse.

Finally... I've also often wondered what partying so hard would do without the drugs. I've experienced festivals both with and without recreational drugs and it often feels like the sleep deprivation and over-stimulation have as large an effect on my subsequent mood as the drugs did.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any psychadelics (and I think cannabis as well, but much more rarely) can cause a psychotic break, which can’t always be recovered from. It seems to be more prevalent if there is a family history of psychosis. No source, just anecdata, the circles I run in.

Even with cannabis, states have no FDA that is prepared to do studies and I just wish a basic level of known side effects were listed from the actual FDA which they do for studied and much more harmful drugs, because they were studied When you add all the other scheduled drugs that have no state level recreational framework, then you no studies and you also have a compounded supply chain problem where nobody knows wh…

> There are molecule combinations out there which can cause instant parkinson’s disease

Is this real or exaggeration for effect? It sounds implausible...

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a lot of people whose minds were ruined by psychedelics. It’s something you will see when you spend time in those communities. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but it’s common.

This type of empty fear mongering comment is unhelpful at best. It's a McDonalds of a comment. What's a lot of people? Why are psychedelics so special compared to anything else (sugar, Facebook, gambling). "It doesn't happen to everyone, but it's common" - what does this even mean? "Common" based on what criterion? How should our behaviour as a society change based on your comment?

Psychedelics can definitely trigger or exacerbate mental health issues. A few years ago my group of friends lost someone to schizophrenia after he started micro-dosing LSD daily.

I've tried many of these substances, and know people who have gone a lot further, so I'm not speaking out of ignorance here. There are risks to these things, and it's not a positive experience for everyone. Giving people a warning about that is entirely reasonable.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#210

Due to recent decriminalizations and booming medical research, there are also some publicly traded companies one can invest in: https://psychedelicinvest.com/index/ https://www.horizonsetfs.com/etf/psyk (disclaimer: I own shares in many of these companies)

In a gist, how would one go about making such investment? Should I talk to a pro broker?
Post reply on HN