Don't know exact physical specifics, but can guess. And i know from what you have said how strong your mental is. And that you have taken steps to make things better. And that you appreciate living. So i reckon odds are you will get through it for years to come.
You get down. Understood. You also understand where you have been and don't want to go there again. You have dealt with it. And will. For years to come.
newmed -- let me suggest the essence of the physical body -- it is RUNNING -- now, as you know I am 90yo, and the docs cannot say enough good things about my heart -- back when 50, your age, out at 6am for a five miler, then at 5pm, five more miles, and the 10ks, half marathons on the week ends were a joy -- running friends abound, and if you can get your new GF to participate -- joy, joy
(How be you give this therapy a shot before surrendering to that "other" voice)
April 15, 2021 -- The psychedelic drug psilocybin – found in “magic mushrooms” performed just as well as a widely used antidepressant in easing the symptoms of major depression, and outperformed the common prescription medication on a range of secondary measures, results of a small-scale phase II study show.
In a 6-week trial that included 59 patients with moderate-to-severe depression, there was no significant difference between the impact of high-dose psilocybin and that of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram, sold under the brand name Lexapro.
Patients in the group that received psilocybin did show a much more rapid improvement in the main measure of depression than those taking escitalopram, but this gap narrowed over the span of the trial until it was no longer statistically significant.
"It's very clear that psilocybin therapy has a faster antidepressant onset than escitalopram. And psilocybin was consistently superior on the ancillary outcomes, but it wasn't different on the primary," the study's lead author Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, told reporters during a news briefing.
Results of the phase II, double-blind, randomized study were published online April 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Secondary Outcomes
Investigators found that psilocybin bested escitalopram in several secondary outcomes, including feelings of well-being, the ability to express emotion, and social functioning.
Still, the team cautioned that they could draw no conclusions from these secondary measures because larger and longer trials are required.
"But the secondaries were highly suggestive — tantalizingly suggestive — of the potential superiority of psilocybin therapy to treat not just depression, but these ancillary symptoms," Carhart-Harris said.
The 59 patients were randomly assigned to receive psilocybin and 29 patients to receive escitalopram. Every procedure was mirrored in both groups.
At the 2 "dosing days" scheduled during the 6-week trial, all patients received an oral dose of psilocybin. However, the escitalopram group received 1 milligram, versus 25 milligrams for the psilocybin group.
"And the reason why we did that is because we can standardize expectation. We say to everyone, you will receive psilocybin. It's just the dosage might differ," Carhart-Harris said.
He conceded that most patients — though not all — were able to determine which group they were in following the first dosing day based on the drugs’ effects.
Supportive Therapy
Following the oral dose, volunteers would spend 6 hours reclining on a bed, surrounded by pillows and a curated selection of music and supported by two "guides" or therapists. The guides were on-hand to support patients though their psychedelic experience but did not chat or otherwise interfere.
The next day, patients attended a session with their two therapists to talk through their experiences.
Between dosing days, patients in the high-dose psilocybin group would take daily capsules containing a placebo. The low-dose group received a course of escitalopram.
The incidence of adverse effects was similar in each group. None was serious.
The study's principal investigator, David Nutt, DM, of Imperial College London, said many patients in the psilocybin group reported great insights during dosing days.
"Very often, for the first time, people have actually come to understand why they're depressed," he told reporters.
The word psychedelic, coined in 1957 by psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, derives from the Greek words "psyche," which means "soul" or "mind," and "delos," which means "reveal."
"Profound Experiences"
Certainly, patients in the psilocybin group received enough of the compound to induce what Carhart-Harris called "very profound experiences."
The researchers said the results, while promising, should not encourage anyone to self-medicate with psychedelic substances, which are still illegal in most countries.
"I view this very much — and I think most colleagues do as well — as a combination treatment," Carhart-Harris said. "And we strongly believe that the psychotherapy component is as important as the drug action."
The team stressed that the absence of an entirely placebo group limit conclusions that can be drawn about either treatment.
Carhart-Harris also said he would have liked a more diverse group of patients. Participants were mostly white and mostly male, with an average age of 41, and a high educational attainment. Of the 59 enrolled, only 34% were women.
Volunteers underwent MRI scans to track changes in metabolism at the start and end of the trial. The team will analyze the results to see if there is an impact on brain function. They also plan a trial examining the effect of psilocybin on anorexia.
"I think it's fair to say the results signal hope that we may be looking at a promising alternative treatment for depression," Carhart-Harris said.
Unanswered Questions
In an accompanying editorial, Jeffrey A Lieberman, MD, Lawrence C. Kolb, professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, warned that there remain many unanswered questions about using psychedelics for medical purposes.
They were considered potential miracle cures for a range of mental disorders in the 1960s, only to be banned in the 1970s due to "the perceived dangers and corrosive effects" on society, he wrote.
"The Carhart-Harris study notwithstanding, we are still awaiting definitive proof of the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelics and their capacity to improve the human condition," Lieberman writes.
"Should the mind-bending properties of the psychedelics prove to be the panacea their proponents professed, informed consent and safety standards must be established. How do we explain mystical, ineffable, and potentially transformative experiences to patients, particularly if they are in a vulnerable state of mind? What is their potential for addiction?"
David Owens, professor emeritus of clinical psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, described Lieberman's comments as "spot-on."
"This is a small, exploratory study with numbers too small to analyse fully," he said.
" One might say this is an 'interested' population, willing to go for novel approaches and with no placebo group, the extent of the placebo response cannot be assessed."
One other on mushies - 'Psychedelic renaissance' sees first legal collection of Australia's medicinal magic mushrooms
"Oh brother , if you only understood..."
Fellow sufferer at times. Hope all is ok, new medicine man
ABC Rural / By Jennifer Nichols Monday 30 Aug 2021 at 8:40am, updated Mon 30 Aug 2021 at 11:14am
These native Psilocybe subaeruginosa magic mushrooms were photographed in Tasmania.(Supplied: Caine Barlow)
Australia's first legal collection of native "magic" mushrooms could provide medical options to treat severe depression, alcohol and drug addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the fear experienced at the end of terminally ill people's lives.
Key points:
* This will be Australia's first legal collection of magic mushrooms
* They will be studied for their psychoactive properties
* The research could provide the foundation for tailored medical psychedelic treatments.
University of Queensland mycologist and evolutionary biologist Dr Alistair McTaggart has been given approval to collect and catalogue psilocybin mushrooms found growing in cow manure and leaf litter on damp forest floors after rain.
The federal government is investing a total of $15 million in grants to support Australian-led research into the use of mushrooms, ecstasy and ketamine to combat illnesses such as PTSD, major depressive disorders, addiction and eating disorders.
"In America the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture] has fast tracked psilocybin treatment. It's considered a breakthrough therapy," Dr McTaggart said.
"With COVID-19 right now, I think there's never been a better time to start looking for therapies for mental health."
The blue meanie grows in the Gold Coast region.(Supplied: Dr Alistair McTaggart)
Trip into the unknown
Globally, 200 species of mushroom produce psilocybin — a natural psychoactive compound with hallucinogenic effects similar to LSD.
But little is known about the 20-30 species of psychedelic mushrooms in Australia, with Dr McTaggart's research to investigate whether they are native, edible, poisonous or adaptable for medicinal use.
Some, like the golden top mushroom, or Psilocybe cubensis — that is commonly found growing in cow pats — may originate from overseas.
Golden top mushrooms grow wild in Australia.(Supplied: Paul Vallier)
At The University of Queensland, the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation project will investigate the DNA of the mushrooms and their psychoactive properties.
Dr McTaggart is keen to tap into the knowledge of citizen scientists who photograph fungi and collaborate with researchers interested in cultivating promising genetic strains to tailor-make specific medical treatments.
In Australia, it is illegal to cultivate, possess, use or supply psychedelic mushrooms.
But, like medicinal marijuana, Dr McTaggart said that would change, in line with other countries.
University of Queensland mycologist Dr Alistair McTaggart is collecting and cataloguing psilocybin mushrooms. (Supplied: Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation)
Psychedelic renaissance
Edith Cowan University's school of medical and health sciences psychologist, Dr Stephen Bright, hopes to conduct clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in Western Australia for treatment resistant depression.
"The research that we're talking about here — in terms of understanding the native psilocybin species — could contribute to the international psychedelic science renaissance," Dr Bright said.
Edith Cowan University's Dr Stephen Bright hopes to conduct clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression. (Supplied: Edith Cowan University)
In 1970, disgraced US president Richard Nixon's "war" on psychedelic drugs froze research into the therapeutic benefits of mushrooms.
Recent international trials at Johns Hopkins Centre for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research have revealed psilocybin's potential.
One treatment session with psychedelics is said to have achieved what years of psychotropic drugs and counselling had not been able to accomplish.
However, scientists also stress the risk of mistaking "magic" mushrooms for "deadly" mushrooms and warn that self-medicating hallucinogens for depression or anxiety could actually do people harm.
"It needs to occur in a clinical environment, where there are trained facilitators, psychologists, social workers [and] psychiatrists who are able to set up the right conditions because it can be challenging at times," Dr Bright said.
"With depression, it allows people to consider their core beliefs of who they are as a person, how they relate to other people and where they fit in the world and those core beliefs are what's driving the depression."
Principal research scientist Dr Tom May from Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.(Supplied: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria)
Dr Bright described psilocybin as a non-addictive drug that could help treat addictions, explaining that people who use mushrooms on a frequent basis become tolerant quickly and do not get any effects from it any more.
"Psilocybin has almost a fail-safe built into it, to make it relatively safe as a drug — provided it's done within the right setting, given the extreme state of consciousness that it produces."
If you or anyone you know needs help: [links inside[
* Lifeline on 13 11 14 * Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 * MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978 * Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 * Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 * Headspace on 1800 650 890 * &ReachOut at au.reachout.com * Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) on 1800 008 774
Doctor Tom May is the principal research scientist in mycology at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. He has compiled a catalogue of Australian fungi.
He said Dr McTaggart's genomic sequencing work would be important to be able to tell species apart.
"There has been a lot of interest in hallucinogens for many decades, but moving into a laboratory setting means that things can be tested and refined to really work out specific kinds of therapy using specific versions of the different compounds," he said.
Dr McTaggart will also test the hypotheses that the Australian native mushroom Psilocybe subaeruginosa has spread globally to become the most commonly used psilocybin in the medical world.
"This species, or a close relative, is now the foundation of patents and research in Europe and the United States," he said.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
