Psychedelic Drugs to Help The Fight Against Depression
Feeling lonely??
Feeling suicidal??
Feeling sad and hopelessness??
These might a few signs of depressions that people handle.No wonder that it destroys a person's life.They just take away our happiness and leave us in the world of sadness and hopelessness.
But, researchers now at Imperial College of London have found an alternative for depression.The traditional way to tackle depression involves the usage of Anti- depressing drugs that help in suppressing emotions.But the problem with these drugs is that these drugs suppress emotions both happy and sad ones.While depressed ones need happiness to recover, these drugs can sometimes suppress them too.The researchers at Imperial College of London found that usage of psychedelic drugs can help us recover without dampening the brain's activity.
Psychedelic Drugs like Magic mushrooms were known to have psilocybin an active compound which helps in alleviating symptoms in patients suffering from the severe depression.The researchers have found that the treatment with psilocybin has improved the moods of depressed patients.The important part is that these patients didn't respond to the traditional methods.Researchers have found a strong reaction in Amygdala- An almond-shaped place in the brain which processes emotions and is known to play a major role in depression.They also believe that this could help in preventing some of the side effects selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors(SSRI).
Feeling suicidal??
Feeling sad and hopelessness??
These might a few signs of depressions that people handle.No wonder that it destroys a person's life.They just take away our happiness and leave us in the world of sadness and hopelessness.
But, researchers now at Imperial College of London have found an alternative for depression.The traditional way to tackle depression involves the usage of Anti- depressing drugs that help in suppressing emotions.But the problem with these drugs is that these drugs suppress emotions both happy and sad ones.While depressed ones need happiness to recover, these drugs can sometimes suppress them too.The researchers at Imperial College of London found that usage of psychedelic drugs can help us recover without dampening the brain's activity.
Treating Depression
Psychedelic Drugs like Magic mushrooms were known to have psilocybin an active compound which helps in alleviating symptoms in patients suffering from the severe depression.The researchers have found that the treatment with psilocybin has improved the moods of depressed patients.The important part is that these patients didn't respond to the traditional methods.Researchers have found a strong reaction in Amygdala- An almond-shaped place in the brain which processes emotions and is known to play a major role in depression.They also believe that this could help in preventing some of the side effects selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors(SSRI).
The Climax
To know more about the effects of psychedelics, the researchers captured the fMRI scans while showing them different expressions and found that some patients felt these as emotionally purging.Most patients reported having experienced a mystical experience, like the feeling of unity, hope, and happiness.Researchers believe that future trials with psychedelics may help in enhancing this aspect of experience and reducing the anxiety to improve the effectiveness of therapy.
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