A medical use for magic mushrooms
The LSD era is long past, but the use of psychedelic drugs to boost personal enlightenment hasn't lost its appeal to some researchers. Case in point is the study published online this week in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Johns Hopkins researchers reported in 2006 that the hallucinogen psilocybin, otherwise known as the sacred mushroom, caused a profound mystical experience in the majority of a group of 36 volunteers who took the drug in a laboratory setting. Two years later, the researchers re-interviewed the volunteers and found that the spiritual effects of the experience appear to last for more than a year. "Most of the volunteers looked back on their experience 14 months later and rated it as the most, or one of the five most, personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives," says lead research Roland Griffiths.
Whoa! That's quite an endorsement for magic mushrooms. The researchers, however, say the drug could be used under careful conditions to help the outlooks of people with anxiety or depression due to serious illness. Psilocybin may also even help as a treatment for drug dependence. A new study is underway that will examine the effects of a psilocybin trip on people with cancer.
"This is a truly remarkable finding," Griffiths says. "Rarely in psychological research do we see such persistently positive reports from a single event in the laboratory."
Don't try this at home, however. The Journal of Psychopharmacology published an accompanying report on how psilocybin can be used safely and ethically in research. The drug is only given to people with no history of psychosis or serious mental disorders, and psychological support is provided during and after the experience.
And, in case you don't think this is serious stuff, the research was funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
-- Shari Roan
Although the "spiritual experience" may be a drug induced illusion, the fact that its effects can be noted well after the actual trip is evidence of its ability to enlighten. The last time I did them, I ended up walking around Ann Arbor alone for a couple hours simply reflecting on my life and the world. Being someone who is open to question his own thoughts and beliefs, the "bad shift in beliefs" that Hugh described was not something I felt. Rather, I felt that I was more able to answer my own questions about myself. Based on my exprience, if the deep thoughts you think during your trip scare you, then you probably aren't really comfortable with yourself as a person. It is likely that the drug simply allowed deep insecurities or questions about your life to move out of the latent depths of your mind and into your thoughts.
As beautiful as it was to watch the clouds in the night sky swirl into magnificent patterns, the main thing I got out of the trip was a new found appreciation for the handful of people in life I felt truly close to. While walking, I had reflected on how fake so many human actions are and realized how important it is to have people in your life who truly know and understand you. To this day, more than a month later, I can honestly say that I have a greater appreciation for the five or six people in my life I feel I can a completely express myself to. The mild hallucinations of the trip may have been an illusion, but the deeper understanding of self and life was no whacked out trip. In my clear headed state, I can remember how I felt during the trip and understand how those thoughts apply to my life.
Posted by: Derek | December 13, 2008 at 08:23 PM
I would have to agree that more reseach into magic mushrooms is well overdue. I have had many positive experiences both mentally and physically over many years. Improved memory, sense of general wellbing, not to mention they do seem to work as a natural form of Viagra! It seems silly the rest of the world is missing out due to ignorance and lack of research.
Posted by: Michael loves mushrooms | September 18, 2009 at 12:52 AM
There is alot to be thought about on mushrooms. It just makes me angry when I voice these ideas like"there could be such 'aliens' within us" or "maby we are a God to the cells in our body, or we are the cells of God" and people like my Christian friend dismis it as a 'druged up illusion' when they belive blindly without evidence.
Why is it that theism has become the normal? Is it so hard for people to comprehend that were not all going to live eternaly?
my 2 cents anyway....
Posted by: Think before you belive | November 28, 2009 at 01:46 AM
we need the medical mushroom movement ASAP
Posted by: d d katt | September 07, 2010 at 12:36 PM