see url: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56745139
see full report...Natural remedies trialled by ancient peoples tend to
be the best...not that I am advocating that anyone should try them...
Quote<<<
Psychedelic drug psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms, is as good at
reducing symptoms of depression as conventional treatment, a small,
early-stage study has suggested.
But when it comes to actively improving people's well-being and ability
to feel pleasure, the psychedelic drug may have had a more powerful effect.
Psychedelics are being studied for a range of mental-health conditions.
But experts caution that this is a small trial with more research needed.
For the past three decades, since Prozac hit the market, new drugs for
depression and anxiety have generally been variations on the same theme.
Yet for a considerable chunk of people they cause undesirable
side-effects, stop working over time or don't work in the first place.
The psilocybin trial's leaders said there was appetite for "novel"
treatments that took a different approach.
The trial's 59 participants were given either psilocybin or a common
antidepressant called a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).
The scientists from Imperial College London's Centre for Psychedelic
Research measured participants' mood and functioning using a number of
different measures.
Their primary measure scores people's symptoms of depression based on
their answers to questions about sleep, energy, appetite, mood and
suicidal thoughts.
These questions are largely negatively focused: they ask whether someone
is feeling sad, but not whether they are feeling happy.
By this measure, psilocybin performed as well as a conventional
antidepressant - an SSRI called escitalopram.
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