How psilocybin, the psychedelic in mushrooms, may rewire the brain to ease depression, anxiety and more

Question

Shrooms, Alice, tweezes, mushies, hongos, pizza toppings, magic mushrooms — everyday lingo for psychedelic mushrooms seems to grow with each generation.

Yet leading mycologist Paul Stamets believes it’s time for fans of psilocybin mushrooms to leave such childish slang behind.

“Let’s be adults about this. These are no longer ‘shrooms.’ These are no longer party drugs for young people,” Stamets told CNN. “Psilocybin mushrooms are nonaddictive, life-changing substances.” 

Small clinical trials have shown that one or two doses of psilocybin, given in a therapeutic setting, can make dramatic and long-lasting changes in people suffering from treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, which typically does not respond to traditional antidepressants. 

Based on this research, the US Food and Drug Administration has described psilocybin as a breakthrough medicine, “which is phenomenal,” Stamets said.

Psilocybin, which the intestines convert into psilocin, a chemical with psychoactive properties, is also showing promise in combating cluster headaches, anxiety, anorexia,obsessive-compulsive disorder and various forms of substance abuse.

Answer 1

I believe this statement to be true, as the study cited by CNN is from The National Library of Medicine, a government backed website (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03775200) and the quoted mycologist Paul Stamets is a well known figure and published author with 44 years of experience in fungi and mycelium. The author of the article, Sandee LaMotte, also has a background in health education, acting as a medical writer for CNN for the last decade, according to her Linkedin. Further studies from sources like the University of Wisconsin-Madison also back up the claim, stating, “A deeper understanding of this interaction can pave the way for more targeted and effective interventions, offering hope to countless individuals struggling with conditions like PTSD and general anxiety disorder.” (https://pharmacy.wisc.edu/2023/12/10/understanding-the-anxiety-reducing-effects-of-psilocybin/)

Comments

I appreciate your extensive use of sources and you're providing of more specific research to back up the original claim. However, I find it concerning that the negative effects of psilocybin and psychedelic mushrooms are never mentioned. People reading this article will take away that these mushrooms have positive side effects which can really help them. Although true this fails to address the potential negative side effects thus I would have appreciated it in the fact check.