Biology:Psilocybin therapy

Short description: Experimental use of psilocybin to treat anxiety & depression

Psilocybin therapy is the use of psilocybin (the active ingredient in psilocybin mushrooms) in a potential therapeutic context. It is one of several forms of psychedelic therapy under study. As of 2020, psilocybin therapy is not used in standard medical practice and is illegal in most of the world.

Research

As of 2020, results from preliminary research conducted on psilocybin therapy included effects on anxiety and depression in people with cancer diagnoses, and effects on alcohol use disorder.

Research has also been conducted on psilocybin therapy for the treatment of migraines, and cluster headaches.

Safety

In the United States, psilocybin is a Schedule I substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, which defines a substance with having substantial potential for abuse, absence of adequate safety evidence, and no currently accepted clinical uses for therapy.

Recent studies have shown however that Psilocybin frequently falls at the end of the scales with the least harm to users and society. Psilocybin also is lowest in the potential for lethal overdose as there is no known overdose level.

Researches have stated that psilocybin is not without risks of harm, which are greater in recreational than medical settings, but relatively speaking, looking at other drugs both legal and illegal, it comes off as being the least harmful in different surveys and across different countries,”

History

In 1959, Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist, was the first person to extract pure psilocybin from the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana. Sandoz, the company that employed Hofmann, then began to sell the active compound to clinicians as an aid in psychedelic psychotherapy.

In August 1960, Timothy Leary conducted a self-experiment using psilocybin mushrooms. After trying pure, extracted psilocybin, he and Dr. Richard Alpert tested whether it could help reduce recidivism rate and constitute an effective psychotherapy aid. In 1963, Leary and Alpert were suspended from their jobs at Harvard University, due to irresponsible and dangerous experimentation with psilocybin mushrooms. Psilocybin research in the United States ended in 1970 when the use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms became illegal.

In 2018–19, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted breakthrough therapy designation to facilitate further research for psilocybin in the possible treatment of depressive disorders. As of 2020, research on the use of psilocybin indicated it caused hallucinations with inability to establish reality from fantasy, panic reactions, and possible psychoses at high doses.

In November 2020, the U.S. state of Oregon legalized psilocybin for people age 21 and older, and decriminalized possession or use of psilocybin mushrooms for medical conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD.

Legal status

As of 2020, psilocybin has no federally-accepted medical use in the United States. In Germany, psilocybin mushrooms and spores are considered as controlled substances illegal to possess or transport.