2 ms·

> To some degree, it absolutely is. At the very least, your reality needs to shift. That's the whole idea of healing depression Hold on now, you're deciding wh

by mabbo 9y ago

> To some degree, it absolutely is. At the very least, your reality needs to shift. That's the whole idea of healing depression Hold on now, you're deciding what the mechanism of action is without merit. Consider some of the studies being done for depression with Ketamine. In those studies, they're finding that the psychoactive component isn't the one causing the improvement- just a byproduct of it created during metabolism[0]. Patients can get the same effects by just consuming that metabolite instead without any high or trip. What this study is finding is that there are specific mental changes after taking psilocybin. It isn't saying anything yet about the mechanism. I'm not saying that your interpretation is wrong, just that it's without any proof beyond your beliefs. [0]https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2016/ketamine-lifts-depression-via-a-byproduct-of-its-metabolism.shtml https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2016/ketamine-lif...

tpm 9y ago
For psilocybin it looks like the more powerful experience means more pronounced and longer lasting therapeutic effect: "Reductions in depressive symptoms at 5 weeks were predicted by the quality of the acute psychedelic experience." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29119217 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29119217 And there are more and more studies about the mechanism of psychedelics such ad psilocybin and LSD coming out, essentially telling the same story.
- mabbo 9y ago
  That's correlation, not causation. What if the more intense experience comes from the same root cause as the more pronounced effect (ie: maybe some people are just wired differently and it has multiple effects?) More study is needed before we go off saying that the psychedelic experience is the cause of the improvement, in my view.
  - tpm 9y ago
    Yes, my comment is based on reading essentially all the studies that came out during last few years (since about 2008). I am pretty sure there is a causal relationship, but to prove it is a different task (and one that is not strictly needed for medical approval).

by mabbo 9y ago

tpm 9y ago

For psilocybin it looks like the more powerful experience means more pronounced and longer lasting therapeutic effect: "Reductions in depressive symptoms at 5 weeks were predicted by the quality of the acute psychedelic experience." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29119217 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29119217 And there are more and more studies about the mechanism of psychedelics such ad psilocybin and LSD coming out, essentially telling the same story.

mabbo 9y ago
That's correlation, not causation. What if the more intense experience comes from the same root cause as the more pronounced effect (ie: maybe some people are just wired differently and it has multiple effects?) More study is needed before we go off saying that the psychedelic experience is the cause of the improvement, in my view.
- tpm 9y ago
  Yes, my comment is based on reading essentially all the studies that came out during last few years (since about 2008). I am pretty sure there is a causal relationship, but to prove it is a different task (and one that is not strictly needed for medical approval).