Study: "Magic Mushrooms" May Help to Treat Depression

[Joshua_me]

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health...ession/52775096/1?csp=hf&loc=interstitialskip

^ Can't wait to see where this one goes... (Perhaps no where...)

And before you guys jump all over me, (again), I'm not a particular fan of psychedelics. At least not at this stage in my life.

But, I DO find it fascinating the different uses for which mankind is using them.

They're for more than listening to "trippy" music and watching the walls breathe...

I was watching a special on "Nat Geo" that was talking about some different substances that I had never even heard of that helped people with everything from opiate addiction to terminally ill patients coming to grips with their inevitable fates.

Back in the early 60's, before LSD was made illegal, my Mom, an R.N., was involved in a program that studied people who were likely dying from whatever disease they had, and their before and after results after taking acid in a controlled setting.

She's often talked about that time in her life, saying how some of the results she witnessed were remarkable.

Of course, all that came to an end when the U.S. government, in it's infinite [STRIKE]ignorance[/STRIKE] - wisdom made LSD a schedule 1 drug, (meaning NO one could have it)

Still, I wonder if our Mother Earth doesn't provide all that we need in our lives for spiritual well-being, and that the truly effective psychiatric drugs are being denied to us. From medical marijuana on down.

It's food for thought, anyway.

 

[Kabluey]

I like the thought of this study - give yourself a dose of shrooms to open your mind... http://www.kurzweilai.net/fed-funded-research-magic-mushrooms-create-openness

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Deja vu all over again...

Wasn't it ibogaine last time?

 

[benno5693]

To be honest, the quote "Magic Mushrooms" May Help to Treat Depression" does inspire this inside my head:

 

[purina]

I remember that Ann Miller, in an interview with Geraldo Rivera, said that Cary Grant had told her that LSD therapy had cured him of "looming homosexuality". When Geraldo asked her what Mr. Grant meant by that, she just shrugged her shoulders.

 

[sabot3ur]

They're certainly not for everyone, but psychedelics break down barriers in your mind and force you to look at things from every different perspective. The visual aspect of the drugs is secondary to the mental, tripping surprises people by being way more than just pretty colors and patterns. Unless you take a small amount, or just aren't in the right state of mind to be thinking, expect some major revelations and fascinating changes in thought

 

[Saybrooke]

On the other hand, I have a friend that had a really bad trip a few years ago... She hasn't been the same sence...

 

[Joshua_me]

I find all of this very interesting, Joshua.

In particular, if you feel like elaborating on your mother's experiences, I would find the stories absolutely absorbing.

Well, there's not a great deal to tell, JB.

I'm not sure how many patients were involved, (I'll ask her about it next time I speak with her...) but I imagine it was around a dozen or so...

Certainly not enough to make the results anything more than anecdotal, but apparently the turn around in the patent's outlook on their impending deaths was remarkably improved.

The "controlled setting" referred to have Dr.'s on call, armed with enough tranquilizers should a "bad trip" begin to occur, but apparently that was never needed. Also, there was a trained psychologist who specialized in terminal patients that remained there for at least eight hours, talking them through the process, or just remaining quiet when need be.

I was always struck by one story, though. Apparently there was a relatively young woman (late 30's, or so ) who had an aggressive form of cancer. Long story short, she was dying, and dying quickly.

Tragically, she had three children, all under the age of twelve, and during her final week's she did not allow them into her room. Her reasoning being she did not want them to see what a shell of a person she had become. She did not want her children to remember their Mom like that.

Well, after her LSD therapy, she did a "180" on that train of thought.

She had a friend bring her in a wig and make-up and a couple of nice dresses, and every couple of days she and her friend would make her look as nice as possible, (keeping in mind this was a woman who barely had the strength to lean forward in bed) and after putting on a happy face, (in more ways than one) invited her children in with open arms.

This process went on for weeks, and the last time her children saw her alive was two nights before she passed away.

During this time she had confided in my Mom that there was NO way she would have done this without the help of her LSD experience. It had "broken down her walls of perception", as a post above alludes to, and allowed her to realize how important and precious this time was for both she and her children.

All these years later, my Mom still tears up a little when she recounts this story. It left a HUGE impression on her, and it leaves one on me as well.

 

[Joshua_me]

Thank you for sharing.

And Thank YOU, Johann...

I suppose there's a reason my Mom taught me this song on her guitar at an early age, and there's a reason why I choose Hospice Nurse as a profession.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7810J78TmbU[/ame]