The search for potent and effective help in mental health is broadening. Governmental bodies have banned the use of certain substances in research for years. This has slowed the search for new uses for them in medicine until recently.
Did you know that the popularity of psychedelic substances is growing steadily? A 2019 study suggested that more than seventeen million Americans had tried hallucinogens. That’s three times more than the National Survey on Drug Use and Health would have us believe.
Psilocybin is among the more popular and efficacious substances undergoing a renewal of interest. In the field of psychology and addiction management, it’s one of the more promising. If you’re interested in psilocybin-assisted therapy and how it could help you, read on to find out more!
What Is Psilocybin?
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring chemical found within over two hundred species of fungi. If you’ve heard the term ‘magic mushroom’, it’s this chemical that gives these fungi their name. They’re also not as exotic as the name might suggest, growing commonly all over the world wherever conditions allow.
Psilocybin itself is biologically inactive, but when consumed, our bodies convert it into psilocin. Psilocin causes a change in thought patterns, auditory and visual hallucinations, and euphoria.
In terms of dependence potential and lethal dose ratio, it’s far less addictive and toxic than caffeine. The dangers of psilocybin lie in its catalytic effects on the mind rather than any physical damage to the body as it’s processed. The lethal dose in rats is a full one and a half times that of caffeine.
Based on animal studies, the lethal dose for humans is somewhere around 6 grams of pure psilocybin. This amount is virtually impossible to consume in terms of the quantity of dried mushroom material necessary to reach that dose.
Reported Effects of Psilocybin
You’ve probably heard a lot of stories surrounding the use of psychedelics. There are plenty of urban myths associated with their use, propagating fear and skepticism. The truth is that psilocybin is safe and non-toxic, especially when compared to substances such as alcohol and nicotine.
The experience promotes a change in thought patterns, lifting the user out of a rut in their minds. We’re creatures of habit; our lives generally follow a certain rhythm or script to which we’ve become accustomed. The magic mushroom experience dissolves the boundaries we’ve erected in our minds, revealing our potential for change.
It’s this unique ability to open the doors within our minds which has researchers so intrigued. It’s a non-toxic substance that promotes feelings of introspection, understanding, and euphoria. It’s no wonder clinics offering safe administration of psilocybin are gaining in popularity.
Effects on Self-Analysis and Introspection
Listening to our conscious mind is a tricky thing to do. It can feel like nagging friction that never lets up, which we push to the side and do our best to ignore. Knowing how we feel and listening to ourselves are two different things and require a certain unique skill set.
Psilocybin can be thought of as a tool to aid us in our understanding of ourselves. It’s a difficult and confusing existence as a human being. Not much about our reality makes sense, internally or externally. Both directions are ones of exploration, which we’ve been tasked to deal with without much help.
In essence, psilocybin is a key to our minds which enables full editorial control. This is no longer a read-only mind; you can make some changes, too. The experience is undeniably daunting, requiring considerable courage on the part of the user to embark upon it.
Direct Effects on Addiction
Most of us will have struggled with one form of addiction or another, be it a tendency to drink a little too much or habitually cave to food cravings. For whatever reason, it’s quite a simple thing to become a slave to something we have a particular fondness for. The issue becomes a contentious internal struggle when the relationship becomes unhealthy, however.
As previously stated, habits can be hard to break, even when they’re detrimental. Wanting to stop doing something should make it easy to stop, but it doesn’t. Dealing with alcohol use disorder, for example, is a personal journey as unique as one person is from another.
There are reasons for doing the things we do that might not be immediately clear to us. Understanding ourselves and why we do the things we do is a lot more potent than the simple desire to end a habit or addiction. With the help of psychoactive substances, understanding ourselves becomes much easier.
Research on Addiction Relief
Years of research into psychoactive substances have proved their potency without a shadow of a doubt. These are chemicals that enact a change within us, an idea strong enough to send even the bravest of us cowering. Our minds are uncharted territory, it’s only natural to fear the unknown.
The changes wrought through a psychedelic journey are self-guided. Even if you go to a clinic and a counselor is sitting beside you for the duration of your experience, they’re there to reassure you, not to guide you. In the event you become scared, there’ll be a friendly hand ready to hold.
The experience itself is unique, internal, and private in a way as to be practically inexplicable. Looming issues in your life will be assessed and understood as they are rather than as you’ve built them up to be. Gratitude for newfound simplicity enables people to easily tackle problems that may have been plaguing them for years.
In some cases, one single dose of psilocybin was sufficient to halt their alcohol addiction completely.
Pharmaceutical Industry vs Naturally Occurring Medicines
The unfortunate reality is that the undeniable efficacy of these treatments isn’t the only consideration. A chemical that does so much for people that can’t be patented is a disastrous development for the pharmaceutical industry. When money is involved, it takes precedence over everything else, even the well-being of our fellow humans.
If people suddenly had legal access to a panacea such as psilocybin-containing mushrooms, profits would dive. Shareholders demand ensured profit margins, and so the wheel continues to turn in the wrong direction. In the case of psilocybin, the government’s decision to criminalize its use is unscientific.
The question isn’t about whether psychoactive substances are effective for various treatments. They are effective, to a point almost beyond belief. The key will be in how to prove that rendering them illegal is unethical and unnecessary.
Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy
Research from many clinical trials has demonstrated the positive effects of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Clients who are struggling in life consistently claim benefits from their experiences. People with post-traumatic stress, terminal illness, and major depressive disorders have all benefited.
Sessions with a professional therapist can help people come to terms with their mortality. The wondrous nature of this chemical is so powerful that even death itself can cease to be a worry.
While laws are still in place to prohibit the possession of magic mushrooms in the USA, some states are beginning to allow their use in clinics. Psilocybin therapy in Arizona becoming available is a perfect example of this progress.
Clients of psilocybin therapy often report feelings of connection and oneness with the universe. These feelings are enough to put a mind at rest, even when facing imminent and premature death. It’s worth noting that there are no pharmaceutical drugs available that come close to being able to make this claim.
Cure the Disease, Not the Symptoms
Problems arise for a reason, and without treatment of the root cause of the issue, nothing changes. Psilocybin-assisted therapy can reveal the reasons behind a lot of mental strife. Sometimes all it takes for a life-changing revelation is to see the world from a fresh perspective.
We’ll look back on the days of therapy without the use of perception-altering substances as a quaint and unrefined approach. As things stand now, numerous therapy centers are popping up and contributing to a new, more positive dialog. Introspection and guided therapy are poised to usher in a new age of mental health for everyone.
If this article helped you understand a little more about what psilocybin therapy is and how it might benefit you, check out the rest of the blog! We’ve got much more information ready and waiting.
