STUDY SHOWS: LOW DOSES OF MUSHROOMS COULD HELP TREAT MENTAL ILLNESS

Low doses of mushrooms may perhaps have a beneficial effect on mental problems, according to a recent study cited in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry. A compound found in some mushrooms called psilocybin was found to have antidepressant and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) effects in tiny doses, according to a study.

According to this research, psilocybin may one day be used to cure mental illnesses, giving hope to people who are suffering from such ailments.

Psilocybin is a well-known classic psychedelic drug that has recently drawn attention for its potential to help treat a variety of psychiatric conditions, mainly addiction and depression, through therapy combined with a high dose of psilocybin.

The latest study, which is known as "microdosing," however, concentrated on psilocybin doses that were administered repeatedly at levels that were considerably lower than those that are frequently used in therapeutic contexts.

Mikael Palner from the University of Southern Denmark in the Netherlands says that microdosing is a phenomenon that was made popular within performance culture, particularly in places like Silicon Valley, California, and that has since spread online through stories and anecdotes as a form of self-medication for a variety of problems.

Anhedonia, anxiety, or altered locomotor activity were not observed in the rats used in the study, which demonstrated how well the animals handled repeated modest doses of psilocybin. Most significantly, the rats' resistance to stress was strengthened, and they showed fewer obsessive behaviors after receiving repeated modest doses of psilocybin.

In addition, it was found that there were more connections to the thalamus, a part of the brain that acts as a sort of filter for our judgments and worries.

"The change in connectivity to the thalamus may contribute to our enhanced resilience to stress factors and could explain why so many people report positive effects on their well-being from small doses of psychedelic mushrooms," Palner explained.

The results of the current study have provided the researchers with a reliable strategy that they can use to conduct future studies on the effects of psilocybin at low dosages repeated repeatedly. The research backs up the numerous anecdotal accounts of the advantages of microdosing as a treatment strategy.

This opens the door to more investigation and perhaps even completely original methods for treating different mental illnesses.Currently, there is a lot of emphasis on microdosing due to the rise in worry and tension in society, which has fueled an increase in the sale of mushrooms.

Several nations, including the Netherlands, Australia, the US, and Canada, have legalized or are in the process of legalizing psilocybin for medical use, according to Palner. "It is, therefore, crucial that we understand the effects and side effects of these substances, which are already widely used by people around the world."