4 ms·

There seems to be a lot of anecdotes about mushrooms helping people get out of a rut. I am glad this is being studied and hope we find some sort of good findin

There seems to be a lot of anecdotes about mushrooms helping people get out of a rut. I am glad this is being studied and hope we find some sort of good findings. Too many people suffer from depression.

ada1981 9y ago
Maps.org has funded a number of studies with promising results. We are beyond anecdote at this point. Also, we have MDMA in phase 3 clinical trials for PTSD working with the VA. Exciting times!
- xutopia 9y ago
  That's amazing news! Hopefully we will enter a new age (pun intended) but this time of rational drug use.
  - ada1981 9y ago
    Just last week the FDA also granted MDMA special status as a breakthrough treatment which will also fast track this process.
- sova 9y ago
  Could you please link to some of the Phase 3 clinical trials, or some info on them? This is one of my favorite fields and I'm so happy to hear about progress!
  - cnp 9y ago
    http://www.maps.org/news/posts/6669-fda-and-maps-agree-on-protocol-for-phase-3-trials-of-mdma-assisted-psychotherapy-for-ptsd http://www.maps.org/news/posts/6669-fda-and-maps-agree-on-pr...
unfunco 9y ago
Psychedelics in general seem to offer many benefits when used in conjunction with therapies. Ayahuasca has seen progress in dealing with PTSD, Ibogaine has had incredible results (albeit in small sample sizes) with addiction struggles, there's so much research being stopped because of stringent drug laws.
- sova 9y ago
  Well, does it make more sense for me to teach you how to fish, or does it make more sense for me to sell you a fish every day? Drug companies are not innocent and oftentimes are not trying to CURE anything, whereas natural methods actually do result in significant changes in lifestyle and attitude, conventional medicine focuses on keeping the lifestyle the same while changing the brainchem. Which is more sustainable? Which is healthier? Drug laws are not only problematic in what they block, they are problematic in the information they keep hidden from the public because people will always find a way to get products, and we should be focused on making the information freely available and the safety (with use of whatever) of our populous the primary objective
- jrs95 9y ago
  It's benefitted me personally. I wish these things were easier to get ahold of for those purposes, it's current legal status makes it fairly difficult.
leggomylibro 9y ago
A change in perspective can help a lot, I think. Drugs aren't a magical cure, but psychedelics can have a deeply personal impact on people, and sort of force them to look at their life in a different light. I think that our brains like to split our lives into neat little silos of experience. We were young children, then we were students, then maybe we were in high school, followed by big bricks of more school, or being in the same job/lease, or focusing on the same hobby, etc. Well, sometimes those bricks of time kinda suck and there don't seem to be many alternatives for change. Not everyone can afford to go back to school or take a trip to the alps for a month of meditative glamping or what-have-you, when they think that it's time to break up the cycle of today being more or less like tomorrow. Of course, many of these studies also use very low doses of psychedelics alongside more traditional therapy. That's maybe not the sort of thing that seems likely to give someone an experience that inspires a 'first day of the rest of their life' view, so maybe I'm just hand-waving a bunch of hooey. Caveat emptor.
- sova 9y ago
  Psilocybin has been shown to activate similar capacities as L-DOPA and other synthetics that basically affect neural chemistry and bring balance back to the brainbody. You are correct that without a commensurate attitudinal shift the effects will be temporary. With a strong supportive group and a strong goal in mind (to be full of contentment without the need to escape one's experience) I think treatment will go very well for those willing to give themselves to the process.
GuB-42 9y ago
There have been a lot of research on psychedelics after LSD was discovered. But while they had a few positive results, these substances proved too unpredictable to turn it into a proper treatment. In the end, most people stopped researching it, partly because of the lack of advancement, and partly because of the anti-drug laws. I just hope that recent research actually goes beyond anecdotal evidence.
- sova 9y ago
  The studies had incredible results and microdosing was the clinician's recommendation. There are places now able to study LSD again after an almost 40-year lockdown/hiatus and the results are really powerful. Some in the UK, some at Purdue, my only concern is that they inject liquid LSD into the bloodstream to prove "control" but it's totally unnecessary, you can eat it just as well or even absorb it through your eye or skin (like Bicycle Day). People need to be educated on its potential, what it illuminates on an MRI, what moto-sensory functions it inhibits and what states of mind it can trend and improve towards. Research would not be as difficult if safety were the primary form of education and not abstinence
  - GuB-42 9y ago
    Do you have more details about these "incredible" results? Peer-reviewed papers if possible. I am genuinely curious. The only area I know where LSD really seemed to do great is with some cases of cluster headaches. But cluster headaches tend respond to unrelated treatment. They tried to do a non-psychedelic variant of LSD for this but I don't know the results. There were probably also a few "miracles" too but it is not sufficient to devise a proper treatment. The reason they inject LSD, I think, is to better control the dosage. When eating it, it is harder to determine when and how much of it is ending up into your bloodstream, which is troublesome for controlled experiments. There were MRI studies where it shows the brain lights up like a Christmas tree while on LSD. I didn't really surprise me considering its effect but still, maybe we are on to something, or maybe not. fMRI research is hard. As for microdosing, I am highly skeptical. Not to say that it is ineffective but this is an area where the placebo effect is strong, which mean we need to be extra rigorous with the studies. Now for safety, LSD is not benign. It is generally non-toxic but it is also known to trigger schizophrenia in people with preexisting conditions. There are other things such as HPPD (a form of "flashbacks") and PTSD-like symptoms caused by "bad trips". It probably doesn't deserve the hard ban we have now but before making a proper treatment, these issues have to be resolved, or at least properly characterized.

ada1981 9y ago

Maps.org has funded a number of studies with promising results. We are beyond anecdote at this point. Also, we have MDMA in phase 3 clinical trials for PTSD working with the VA. Exciting times!

xutopia 9y ago
That's amazing news! Hopefully we will enter a new age (pun intended) but this time of rational drug use.
- ada1981 9y ago
  Just last week the FDA also granted MDMA special status as a breakthrough treatment which will also fast track this process.
sova 9y ago
Could you please link to some of the Phase 3 clinical trials, or some info on them? This is one of my favorite fields and I'm so happy to hear about progress!
- cnp 9y ago
  http://www.maps.org/news/posts/6669-fda-and-maps-agree-on-protocol-for-phase-3-trials-of-mdma-assisted-psychotherapy-for-ptsd http://www.maps.org/news/posts/6669-fda-and-maps-agree-on-pr...

unfunco 9y ago

Psychedelics in general seem to offer many benefits when used in conjunction with therapies. Ayahuasca has seen progress in dealing with PTSD, Ibogaine has had incredible results (albeit in small sample sizes) with addiction struggles, there's so much research being stopped because of stringent drug laws.

sova 9y ago
Well, does it make more sense for me to teach you how to fish, or does it make more sense for me to sell you a fish every day? Drug companies are not innocent and oftentimes are not trying to CURE anything, whereas natural methods actually do result in significant changes in lifestyle and attitude, conventional medicine focuses on keeping the lifestyle the same while changing the brainchem. Which is more sustainable? Which is healthier? Drug laws are not only problematic in what they block, they are problematic in the information they keep hidden from the public because people will always find a way to get products, and we should be focused on making the information freely available and the safety (with use of whatever) of our populous the primary objective
jrs95 9y ago
It's benefitted me personally. I wish these things were easier to get ahold of for those purposes, it's current legal status makes it fairly difficult.

leggomylibro 9y ago

A change in perspective can help a lot, I think. Drugs aren't a magical cure, but psychedelics can have a deeply personal impact on people, and sort of force them to look at their life in a different light. I think that our brains like to split our lives into neat little silos of experience. We were young children, then we were students, then maybe we were in high school, followed by big bricks of more school, or being in the same job/lease, or focusing on the same hobby, etc. Well, sometimes those bricks of time kinda suck and there don't seem to be many alternatives for change. Not everyone can afford to go back to school or take a trip to the alps for a month of meditative glamping or what-have-you, when they think that it's time to break up the cycle of today being more or less like tomorrow. Of course, many of these studies also use very low doses of psychedelics alongside more traditional therapy. That's maybe not the sort of thing that seems likely to give someone an experience that inspires a 'first day of the rest of their life' view, so maybe I'm just hand-waving a bunch of hooey. Caveat emptor.

sova 9y ago
Psilocybin has been shown to activate similar capacities as L-DOPA and other synthetics that basically affect neural chemistry and bring balance back to the brainbody. You are correct that without a commensurate attitudinal shift the effects will be temporary. With a strong supportive group and a strong goal in mind (to be full of contentment without the need to escape one's experience) I think treatment will go very well for those willing to give themselves to the process.

GuB-42 9y ago

There have been a lot of research on psychedelics after LSD was discovered. But while they had a few positive results, these substances proved too unpredictable to turn it into a proper treatment. In the end, most people stopped researching it, partly because of the lack of advancement, and partly because of the anti-drug laws. I just hope that recent research actually goes beyond anecdotal evidence.

sova 9y ago
The studies had incredible results and microdosing was the clinician's recommendation. There are places now able to study LSD again after an almost 40-year lockdown/hiatus and the results are really powerful. Some in the UK, some at Purdue, my only concern is that they inject liquid LSD into the bloodstream to prove "control" but it's totally unnecessary, you can eat it just as well or even absorb it through your eye or skin (like Bicycle Day). People need to be educated on its potential, what it illuminates on an MRI, what moto-sensory functions it inhibits and what states of mind it can trend and improve towards. Research would not be as difficult if safety were the primary form of education and not abstinence
- GuB-42 9y ago
  Do you have more details about these "incredible" results? Peer-reviewed papers if possible. I am genuinely curious. The only area I know where LSD really seemed to do great is with some cases of cluster headaches. But cluster headaches tend respond to unrelated treatment. They tried to do a non-psychedelic variant of LSD for this but I don't know the results. There were probably also a few "miracles" too but it is not sufficient to devise a proper treatment. The reason they inject LSD, I think, is to better control the dosage. When eating it, it is harder to determine when and how much of it is ending up into your bloodstream, which is troublesome for controlled experiments. There were MRI studies where it shows the brain lights up like a Christmas tree while on LSD. I didn't really surprise me considering its effect but still, maybe we are on to something, or maybe not. fMRI research is hard. As for microdosing, I am highly skeptical. Not to say that it is ineffective but this is an area where the placebo effect is strong, which mean we need to be extra rigorous with the studies. Now for safety, LSD is not benign. It is generally non-toxic but it is also known to trigger schizophrenia in people with preexisting conditions. There are other things such as HPPD (a form of "flashbacks") and PTSD-like symptoms caused by "bad trips". It probably doesn't deserve the hard ban we have now but before making a proper treatment, these issues have to be resolved, or at least properly characterized.