By Free Republic | Created at 2024-09-24 20:05:59 | Updated at 2024-09-30 19:23:42
5 days ago
Psilocybin may curb mental illness linked to eating disorders
UPI ^ | September 24, 2024 | Dennis Thompson, HealthDay News
Posted on 09/24/2024 12:29:42 PM PDT by Red Badger
Psilocybin could help people suffering from a mental health problem that can lead to eating disorders, a new study suggests.
Psilocybin, the active chemical in "magic" mushrooms, significantly reduced symptoms in people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), researchers reported Tuesday in the journal Psychedelics.
BDD causes an obsessive preoccupation with perceived flaws in one's physical appearance, and is frequently tied to eating disorders and other unhealthy behaviors, researchers said.
For this pilot trial, eight people with hard-to-treat BDD received a single 25-milligram dose of psilocybin.
Brain scans showed that the psilocybin treatment increased levels in connectivity between different brain regions related to emotional processing, cognitive activity and feelings and thoughts about oneself.
People who had the greatest strengthening in these connections experienced the most improvement in their BDD symptoms within a week, results show.
The findings "align with a growing body of evidence indicating that psychedelic compounds like psilocybin can promote mental health by enhancing the brain's capacity for flexibility and integration," concluded the research team led by Chen Zhang, a research assistant with the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
"By facilitating communication within and between brain networks that are often dysregulated in psychiatric disorders, psilocybin may help restore more adaptive cognitive and emotional functioning," the research team said in a journal news release.
However, more studies in larger groups of people with BDD are needed to verify the effectiveness of the treatment and how long it will last, the researchers noted.
More information
Johns Hopkins Medicine has more on psilocybin therapy.
TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science; Society; Weird Stuff
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1 posted on 09/24/2024 12:29:42 PM PDT by Red Badger
To: Red Badger
But if you take shrooms, you could very well cause yourself to have schizophrenia.
2 posted on 09/24/2024 12:33:31 PM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
To: reasonisfaith
But if you take shrooms, you could very well cause yourself to have schizophrenia.
Sure didn't help that airline pilot.
3 posted on 09/24/2024 12:34:46 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
To: Red Badger
We had a friend (son of a senator) who went from a world/ class leading university to the insane asylum
From psilocybin.
4 posted on 09/24/2024 12:35:33 PM PDT by faithhopecharity ("Politicians aren't born, they're excreted." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
To: Red Badger
5 posted on 09/24/2024 12:36:44 PM PDT by Gunslingr3
To: Red Badger
6 posted on 09/24/2024 12:38:25 PM PDT by Buttons12
To: Red Badger
Or it could just create a lot of stoned skinny people.
CC
7 posted on 09/24/2024 12:38:28 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
To: 1Old Pro
Your comment is rhetorical.
8 posted on 09/24/2024 12:39:34 PM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
To: Celtic Conservative
With many schizophrenics randomly scattered amongst them.
9 posted on 09/24/2024 12:41:51 PM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
To: Red Badger
Pro: Treats eating disorders.
Con: Opens the doors of perception.
{snicker}
10 posted on 09/24/2024 12:42:01 PM PDT by Salman (It's not a slippery slope if it was part of the program all along. )
To: reasonisfaith
How about old folks homes?
11 posted on 09/24/2024 12:42:14 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
To: Red Badger
12 posted on 09/24/2024 12:45:16 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
To: Red Badger
Expecting some shroom news this fall. The pushers of the measure will be pushing.
Shrooms are on the MA ballot (Q#4). Any other states?
13 posted on 09/24/2024 12:50:47 PM PDT by C210N (Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.)
To: Red Badger
These studies and claims have going in for more than 60 years now.
All bs.
14 posted on 09/24/2024 12:54:17 PM PDT by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
To: Celtic Conservative
Jim Ignatowski comes to mind.
15 posted on 09/24/2024 12:59:29 PM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
To: Red Badger
“..curb mental illness...”
What is a bigger mental illness that can be helped with psilocybin, an eating disorder or a trans freak who thinks he can actually change his sex to a female after getting his testicles cut off? /s
16 posted on 09/24/2024 1:04:33 PM PDT by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute. )
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