Treating Depression and Anxiety with Psilocybin Cubensis

The use of psychedelics as a therapeutic, including Psilocybecubensis, is in the news. This is actually ‘old’ news since psychedelics as a tested therapeutic treatment for depression and anxietygoes back to the 1940s right through the ‘60s. Even before that, and all over the globe, for centuries, Psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics were used ceremonially. The youthful counter culture of the 1960s saw relatively widespread recreational and mind-altering use of psychedelics such as LSD, MDMA and Psilocybin cubensis. All these young people having way too much ‘fun’ created what Michael Pollan in his book “How to Change Your Mind’[1] refers to as “moral outrage” by the status quo. An unfortunate impact of this is the War on Drugs that begins with the criminalization of the psychedelics in the late 1960s, moving cultivation and consumption into underground cultures, further outraging authorities.

An unfortunate impact was the sudden halt of the academic and medical research happening at the time into the use of psychedelics as therapeutic tools to treat mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. With the psychedelics banned and illegal, researchers were no longer able to continue their work and the good research that showed promising treatment applications was stopped and not picked up again until the 1990s by a small group of courageous researchers who knew that something important had been lost. Tragic, actually, since people who perhaps could have had their mental anguish relieved or even eliminated have instead needlessly suffered while the moralistic and fearful debate continues. Thankfully, psychedelics as therapeutic drugs is back and trials on human populations are in progress again.

So how does a psychedelic like Psilocybin cubensis affect the brain leading to positive outcomes on something like depression and anxiety? The neuro-science involved is complicated but simply put Psilocybin and other psychedelics affect metacognitive processes such as perception, emotion, cognition, and sense of self or ego. At a therapeutic dose, users describe heightened sense of feelings and increased access to emotions as well as a ‘softer’ ego, a sense of being ‘one with the universe’. Where users experience this dissolution of ego, reports of positive, longer lasting outcomes are common. We can talk about greater neuro-transmissibility and better serotonin reuptake, but basically with the help of Psilocybin cubensis we get the ego out of the way to make room for a less cluttered and perhaps more objective mind. That negative self-talk that is so common in depression is dissipated to make space for a different and more positive kind of internal dialogue. This, in turn, can lead to a greater sense of true self and abetter outlook in life. This seems to sustain in many individuals. It’s almost like the brain re-wires itself.

This could be hugely important in hard to treat depression where typical medications have little to no positive effects. Anxiety can also be hard to treat but Psilocybin is proving a therapeutic winner here as well. A recent study from John Hopkins University School of Medicine seems to corroborate this.[2]

There is enough current evidence to show that psychedelics have a significant place in the treatment of anxiety disorders and hard to treat clinical depression. This is such good news since so many people suffer with anxiety and depression, and for many this is a life-long affliction that affects not only them but their loved ones too. When treating clinically defined disorders it is important to work with a health care professional to ensure that all extenuating variables are considered. Although there are relatively few practitioners employing this kind of medicine in Canada at the moment, this will surely change as the research continues to indicate benefits. But, do your own research. Make sure that you are informed enough to be confident with decisions you make.

Depression has been part of my life since I was a child. It was mainly situational depression caused by destructive circumstances in my life. At my essence however I am a joyful person. Microdosing with the PureMicro products has allowed the joyful person in me to be more consistently present than the depressed person that I learned to be. As a person who is now in my 60s, I wish the microdosing option had been available to me sooner. I use 50 to 100 mg a day: 50mg to maintain and 100mg to boost when I need it. I like being happier and the depression is hardly ever present anymore. I want this for everyone.

I highly recommend that you find and read Michael Pollan’s book, “How to Change Your Mind, What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence”.

Warmly,

Blogger Jeannie