Live data from Hacker News

Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

bbc.co.uk

301–310 of 324 posts

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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." In a lot of ways, that's completely depressing for how slowly we've come as a species.

"The species" has been using psychedelics in religious ceremonies for a long time. We're just out of the loop.

> "The species" has been using psychedelics in religious ceremonies for a long time.

Arguably for thousands of years, as well.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#302
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely not the case for the people I know. One trip caused permanent psychosis in one case.

Perhaps they were susceptible to it, then. Permanent psychosis though? Is that really a thing?

Yes, it is. Psychotic disorders aren't pretty and they're often permanent. They can go into remission, though.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#303

I have a friend who has experienced magic mushrooms recreationally about half a dozen times in her 20s. After each trip she reported feeling clear headed and more mindful - she described it as though her mind's harddrive had been defragmented. Fast forward 10 years and that same friend felt low during lockdown over the past 12 months. After reading up online she decided to try microdosing mushrooms rather than the ma…

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…

5-HT2A agonists, which all classical psychedelics are, induce a strong tolerance that prevents people from abusing them everyday.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#304
post #123
post #26

On the one hand, HN is terrified of brain-computer interfaces manipulating our brains and emotions, on the other hand, they're totally psyched about using mushrooms to do the same thing.

Mushrooms don't have an agenda. The owner of the brain-computer interface probably does.

Psychedelic effects could be an advantage, from an evolutionary perspective, that encourages consumption, propagation and cultivation of different species of fungi. I could see that being an agenda.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#305
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…

Due to the stigma of psychedelics, there has been a long gap in research, which may have started with 1962 "Good Friday Experiment" > Almost all of the members of the experimental group reported experiencing profound religious experiences, providing empirical support for the notion that psychedelic drugs can facilitate religious experiences. One of the participants in the experiment was religious scholar Huston Smith…

For a complete story about psychedelic research I recommend “How to Change Your Mind” by Michael Pollan.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#306
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you don't mind the current state of affairs where everyone is being ingested with sugar and caffeine? Are those not drugs? Office productivity is directly corrolated to the coffe machine. The moment that breaks down everything stops. Coincidence, or are we all addicted to a drug?

Where did I say anything about caffeine and its acceptability? Don’t read things into my comments that aren’t there.

What I meant was: "why do you not mind the current state, where the workforce is ingested with "drugs""

Yet you don't like the idea of "drugs" actually making people's live better?

The current world... Capitalism and political systems, is just an emergent result of society's internal stress, it is pendulum between, trying to making it and giving up to depression...what if we can actually balance that with a slight change to our diet of, vitamins, food supplements, neuro stimulants ( coffe, sugar)... Maybe we just need to sprinkle som psylocibin on top?

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#307

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…

5-HT2A agonists, which all classical psychedelics are, induce a strong tolerance that prevents people from abusing them everyday.

Every day isn’t sustainable, but Psilocin/LSD tolerance builds as fast as it diminishes again, typically gone within a week or at most two. If you want to abuse them, the chemicals certainly won’t stop you. And when you’re in the mindset of getting hammered all the time no matter what you can just take Ketamine for a day, do less LSD but mix it with MDMA, and all those things. People can be very creative.

Abuse is a person problem, not a chemical problem.

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my experience too. I’ve been microdosing about 1.3mg on and off during lockdown. The effects are subtle and hard to describe but I’d say it’s like ‘opening your mind’ or reframing your point of view on things. Definitely different from other drugs which just pump you with serotonin

How do you measure this amount? If mushrooms vary in shape and size...do you have to ground them up and take gelcaps to measure this appropriately?

Yes you grind them up and then use a 0.1 mg accuracy scale

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my experience too. I’ve been microdosing about 1.3mg on and off during lockdown. The effects are subtle and hard to describe but I’d say it’s like ‘opening your mind’ or reframing your point of view on things. Definitely different from other drugs which just pump you with serotonin

I'm honestly surprised that you are able feel any effect from such a dose. Based on what i've heard from my friend's uncle's guardener's grandmother's neighbour, this could very much be just simple placebo effect. You know you are taking mushrooms, which have no effect, but you 'feel' better.

No it's very much not a placebo, your mind feels very very different. Colours seem brighter, occasional giggling, a lot more creative thought

Re: Psilocybin 'promising' for depression

#310
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this being downvoted? Studies are great, but let's not act like drugs are suddenly safe to use in all cases. I'm sure the studies didn't conclude that. Be pro-shrooms but don't act like they're safe in every case. Education is required before partaking in anything, let alone shrooms.

Can we point to any data showing that mushrooms or acid (for example) are more dangerous than, say, a coronavirus vaccine or driving a car? Because generally speaking, unless something is concretely documented as dangerous we don't just assume it is dangerous "because". Especially when that "because" is because of a well-documented, decades-long propaganda campaign by the federal government.

You haven't had any negative experiences with drugs, have you?
Post reply on HN