Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

medscape.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 397 posts

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#191

Post by dymax78 »

Levitating wrote: post #171
dimal wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we do not know, really, what goes on in there when you take a drug like Psilocybin FYI, same goes for SSRIs. The scientific consensus is that the serotonin deficiency theory of depression was wrong. When SSRIs actually work, we still don’t know why. I’ve had bad trips, too. Very bad, but I still think that psilocybin (in a controlled, supportive setting) is a better bet. My bad trips were all due to being in bad se…

SSRIs barely work. For mild to moderate depression a placebo works similarly or better. Only for severe cases of depression are SSRIs found to be helpful because they surpress all emotion.

~50% response rate for people with major depressive disorder isn't "barely working" -- for millions of people, SSRIs significantly improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, there is no "one size fits all" solution and often those of us with MDD have to try different medications, in conjunction with a (good) therapist before we find what works best.

Personally, I've run the gamut on SSRIs and they never suppressed all emotion.

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#192

Post by AStonesThrow »

DiscourseFan wrote: post #102
iancmceachern wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, maybe don't take "very high doses". I've not done that. And not had any seriously bad experiences. Maybe like everything else is all about moderation?

It was 500ug of LSD mixed with probably 6 or 7 drinks of alcohol. Suffered serotonin syndrome for a few days afterwards. Regardless I’ve heard stories of people having severe long term psychological issues from even relatively light doses, simply because of how their body in particular interacted with the drug.

> Suffered serotonin syndrome for a few days afterwards.

What sort of physician diagnosed you with Serotonin Syndrome? What symptoms did you describe to them, and what criteria/evidence did they use to arrive there? Were they able to use differential diagnosis to rule out other conditions?

Did you return to the same physician after the symptoms ceased?

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#193

Post by hmcq6 »

DiscourseFan wrote: post #102
iancmceachern wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, maybe don't take "very high doses". I've not done that. And not had any seriously bad experiences. Maybe like everything else is all about moderation?

It was 500ug of LSD mixed with probably 6 or 7 drinks of alcohol. Suffered serotonin syndrome for a few days afterwards. Regardless I’ve heard stories of people having severe long term psychological issues from even relatively light doses, simply because of how their body in particular interacted with the drug.

You got serotonin syndrome from LSD?

That is incredibly rare, so rare I can’t find any other documented cases

Edit: did you test it to make sure it was real LSD?

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#194

Post by foobiekr »

neom wrote: post #21

Psilocybin saved my life. I'm no longer suicidal, I'm no longer a practicing alcoholic, and outside of a few things here and there, I'm generally at peace with my life. I cannot express how grateful I am for psilocybin.

Same. I came to them as an older person (late 40s) who basically had only tried pot a few times prior, and nothing at all before late thirties. I don't drink.

My few experiences, the first few times, over the course of a year, spread apart by 3-4 months, went from extremely dark to .. just positive, except the last one, where I had no visuals, no bliss at all, and just came to terms with something else in our lives that was going wrong.

The dark ones were rage and anger, and now it seems just gone, like there's nothing there. Like a weight lifted, and seemingly long term.

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#195

Post by dontwearitout »

cubefox wrote: post #56

Unfortunately it's hardly possible to do proper case control studies with psilocybin, since the psychedelic effects cause unblinding. The participants know whether they are in the treatment or control group. > Normally the journey is quite inward, so patients do not require active support during the psychedelic experience [around 6 hours]. Sometimes they do require some hand-holding, or helping them to 'let go', or b…

I've never found it compelling that blinding isn't possible for drug-naive patients. There are other drugs that could induce a "trip" and an unfamiliar individual could mistake for a minor psychedelic experience.

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#196

Post by foobiekr »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #108
standardUser wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've have done a lot of drugs and know a lot of people who have done a lot of drugs, and psilocybin is far and away the substance that is most loved and gets the best reviews. It's not even close.

Thoughts on Mescaline/Peyote?

Mescaline is like the angry lover version of mushrooms. I did it once, two years ago to understand why it has been used, traditionally, as the baseline for comparison for psychedelic substances, and it was enlightening; it is certainly a tasting menu of the classical psychedelics, having at different points in the experience the flavor of stimulants, LSD, mushrooms and finally something all its own, but it is also much grittier and less loving than mushrooms.

Mescaline is _rough_. And honestly the "you are done with it before it is done with you" thing is 100% true, it is also very long lasting.

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#198

Post by washadjeffmad »

DiscourseFan wrote: post #82

Ok like most of you I’ve taken psychedelic drugs. I’ve had bad experiences sure, but I’m fine now. The issue is that what people generally say, like, “oh sometimes you need to encounter your demons,” maybe that will be temporarily traumatizing—in general people recover from that. The real issues are…more complex. More complex than any diagnoses in the DSM can cover. The brain is very complicated, and everyone’s brain…

I had a profoundly difficult trip that affected me deeply. It felt eternal, and when I emerged, I could feel it in my head like some antimemetic parasite that fed off disgust and terror. I can still remember the feeling, twenty years later, if I try, so I don't. I had to learn how not to be influenced by it, and in doing so, learned about myself. And as I changed, because I was aware of what I knew, I knew when I'd changed.

Our selves are not immutable, steady states. Our experiences shape us. It's a lesson learned to guard that carefully and jealously.

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#199

Post by krzat »

jtrn wrote: post #100

This comment ignores the possible effectiveness of both psilocybin and SSRIs and focuses on the usefulness of the research itself. I actually believe that both have a role in psychiatry, but this study tells me nothing with regards to therapy. Working as a clinical psychologist, who also reads a lot of research, this study is just another brick in the wall that I am banging my head against when it comes to doing actu…

Psychiatry seems to be very symptom based, depression is an umbrella term for many completely different problems that show as "big sad".

Maybe it would be more productive to base diagnosis on some kind of brain imaging.

Re: Psilocybin bests SSRI for major depression in first long-term comparison

#200

Post by jowdones »

DiscourseFan wrote: post #159
jowdones wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I was trying to see how far I could go

Well it's generally recommended to "go far" cautiously in several steps otherwise you can severely damage yourself.

Anyhow I expect you to be fairly young so that explains it somewhat. If you're 50 though then it's double weird :)

Post reply on HN