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I may start growing 'shrooms in my dark and dank pantry and get off Celexa after reading this New York Times article about what may be the medicinal qualities of magic mushrooms:
A study published last month in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface compared M.R.I.s of the brains of subjects injected with psilocybin [the psychoactive agent in magic mushrooms] with scans of their normal brain activity. The brains on psilocybin showed radically different connectivity patterns between cortical regions (the parts thought to play an important role in consciousness). The researchers mapped out these connections, revealing the activity of new neural networks between otherwise disconnected brain regions.
The researchers suspect that these unusual connections may be responsible for the synaesthetic experience trippers describe, of hearing colors, for example, and seeing sounds. The part of the brain that processes sound may be connecting to the part of the brain that processes sight. The study’s leader [said that] his team doubted that this psilocybin-induced connectivity lasted. They think they are seeing a temporary modification of the subject’s brain function.
The fact that under the influence of psilocybin the brain temporarily behaves in a new way may be medically significant in treating psychological disorders like depression. “When suffering depression, people get stuck in a spiral of negative thoughts and cannot get out of it,” [the study's leader] said. “One can imagine that breaking any pattern that prevents a ‘proper’ functioning of the brain can be helpful.” Think of it as tripping a breaker or rebooting your computer.
(Score: 1) by Gravis on Monday December 01 2014, @01:00AM
The fact that under the influence of psilocybin the brain temporarily behaves in a new way may be medically significant in treating psychological disorders like depression. “When suffering depression, people get stuck in a spiral of negative thoughts and cannot get out of it,” [the study's leader] said. “One can imagine that breaking any pattern that prevents a ‘proper’ functioning of the brain can be helpful.”
your plant needs water. what do you do?
A) pour some water on the plant.
B) throw the plant in a lake.
both will get the plant the water it needs but one is a really dumb idea.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @01:43AM
C) Drink the water, wait 20 minutes, water the plant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @02:05AM
Only 20 min?
If I were you; I'd go get a check up on my prostate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @02:27AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @02:56AM
As long as it's within an hour it's considered normal for a properly hydrated person.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Monday December 01 2014, @12:31PM
I disagree. Even within an hour I'd consider it bad behaviour, not normal!
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @02:29AM
Your cute analogy better describes the dangerous conventional drugs, not the comparatively benign psilocybin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @02:39AM
At doses of 13 mg or more, users' perceptions become altered, and they develop the same symptoms as an LSD user.
Users with a history of mental illness should not take hallucinogens, including psilocybin, because they can trigger or aggravate conditions like schizophrenia, mania, or depression.
Taken from http://brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/alcohol,_tobacco,_&_other_drugs/psilocybin.php [brown.edu] of Brown University
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mendax on Monday December 01 2014, @03:17AM
This advice may be indicated for larger hallucinogenic amounts of psilocybin, but perhaps not in smaller, medicinal doses. After all, pseudophedrine in small doses will stop your runny nose without putting you to sleep. Large amounts are an hallucinogen, which is why the FDA requires the placing of small amounts of ipecac or some other nasty shit to cause you to vomit it up if you take a large dose. And, of course, it can be cooked in a chemistry lab and used as a component of meth which is why it's harder to get these days.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 02 2014, @12:40AM
Pseudo ephedrine is not an hallucinogenic., you will die before tripping unless you're on maoi then you will trip before you die
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 01 2014, @05:18AM
That's the "symptom" recreational users of mushrooms and LSD want. The people who are prescribed psilocybin in the future should take the dose recommended by their doctor. Stigma and research restrictions don't help the latter group get (potentially) effective treatment, and the former group should be free to do what they want with these safe drugs.