Anxiety and depression are the leading mental health issues to date, affecting more than 260 million people globally. As the number of people looking for relief grows so does the number of people looking for natural alternatives to prescription pharmaceuticals. Micro-dosing psilocybin may be just the thing to pull you out of the darkness. For the first time in 40 years, interest in psilocybin research has surged. In an international survey, 79% of people asked said that they saw improvements in their mental health after micro-dosing. Other surveys revealed that the majority of people experienced an increase in creativity and productivity and lower levels of anxiety and depression.
What Is Psilocybin?
Psilocybin is what gives you funky visuals in magic mushrooms. It is naturally occurring in almost two hundred types of fungi globally. When this magical molecule is ingested it interacts with your serotonin levels. This offers a huge range of benefits. It takes anywhere from 20-40 minutes after taking it to feel the effects but can last up to 6 hours. In small doses, it leads to a feeling of calm or heightened concentration. In larger doses, it can cause hallucinations and unusual perceptions.
What Is Micro-Dosing?
You have probably seen some movie portrayal of someone “tripping” out on magic mushrooms. One of the best examples is on the hit show Broad City. During their trip, the show becomes an animated cotton candy wonderland. Cartoon Abbi and Ilana float through New York City which is full of swirling patterns and lights. During the show they become cucumbers, they’re surrounded by fish, and the moon drinks wine. This trippy portrayal is based around taking a large dose of this magical fungus causing hallucinations and altered perception.
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On the other hand, micro-dosing is when you consume a very small dose of a psychedelic drug. This reduced portion will only be 1- 10% of what you would take to get the hallucinogenic visual aspect of the drug. Microdosing is perfect for you if you want to harness the many benefits of this natural medication while avoiding the negative effects associated with a psychedelic “trip. This small dose should only be taken every 4 days so as not to build up a tolerance and so that you can get the most out of your experience.
How Does It Work?
Research shows that magic mushrooms help people suffering from depression reconnect with their emotions. Psychedelic drugs change the way that the brain works by interacting with your serotonin levels. This is what heightens our emotional responses and encourages people to escape the ruts that kept them in a bad mind space. When a brain scan was done on patients after taking magic mushrooms they saw that there were reduced blood flow and lower activity in the amygdala. These are overactive when people are suffering from depression and anxiety.
Other benefits to taking this natural medication over pharmaceuticals are that they are fast-acting and have fewer negative side effects. While magic mushrooms help you to reconnect with your emotions, antidepressants work by dulling them. People that do take antidepressants say that they are left feeling dull or numb. This is the best-case scenario if the drugs actually end up working. If they don’t it can be a long process to find the perfect fit as they take weeks to start to affect you. When taking psilocybin the benefits are immediate and patients show improvement in under a week.
Studies
A trial that finished in 2016 studied treatment-resistant depression with psilocybin. They gave 18 participants microdoses of psilocybin and after two treatments all of the patients saw an improvement. Five weeks later nine out of nineteen patients felt that their depression was significantly improved by at least 50%. One of the patients, Micheal, had suffered from depression for thirty years when he joined the study. After years of trying therapies and antidepressants with no end in sight, he found his first source of relief. For the first time in years, he felt upbeat and able to enjoy forgotten and new pastimes.
“I became a different person,” says Michael. “I couldn’t wait to get dressed, get into the outside world, see people. I was supremely confident – more like I was when I was younger, before the depression started and got to its worst.”
Johns Hopkins medicine conducted another study where they gave 24 adults with major depression two doses of psilocybin. Everyone in the study started by taking a GRID-Hamilton Depression rating tes
GRID- Hamilton Scale:
24 or More = Severe Depression
17-23 = Moderate Depression
8-16 = Mild Depression
7 or Less = No Depression
When first given the test the average depression scale rating was 23. Four weeks after the study, participants were given the same test but this time the average was down to 8. Most showed decreased depressive symptoms and half were in remission. In the end, 71% saw benefits. This was huge! All of these people had been on anti-depressants that hadn’t seem to work for them. After the study people were able to have a higher quality of life. Of the group that saw improvements 54% were in remission- they were no longer considered depressed. The study will continue to follow the participants long-term
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“I believe this study to be a critically important proof of concept for the medical approval of psilocybin for treatment of depression, a condition I have personally struggled with for decades,” says entrepreneur and philanthropist Tim Ferriss, who supported the funding campaign for this study. “How do we explain the incredible magnitude and durability of effects? Treatment research with moderate to high doses of psychedelics may uncover entirely new paradigms for understanding and improving mood and mind. This is a taste of things to come from Johns Hopkins.”
Whether you are suffering from major depression or just need a mood boost during a stressful time psilocybin could be the answer. Amazing Shrooms makes this process easy for you whether you’re new to this funny fungus or a vet. The capsules have the perfect, regulated dose ready for you so there is no guessing or measuring. Free yourself from your mind by opening it! If you have used magic mushrooms for your depression tell us about your experience in the comment section below.
