How the active ingredient in magic mushrooms is helping treatment-resistant depression

Psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, is being used in clinical trials to help treatment-resistant depression. Early results are promising, but experts warn it is not a miracle cure 

'Psychedelic drugs offer opportunities for positive change, but the drug alone doesn’t solve problems — only the individual can do that.'

“Suddenly, in what can only be described as a very vivid dream, I was in the mountains. The car was parked beside a lake with my wife inside and the door open. As I stood next to the door, my wife looked into my eyes and repeated, ‘Nobody is trying to hurt you’ over and over again. It was powerful. I realised I had been so mistrusting of people my whole life, which held me back for so long and diminished my capacity to love. I was crying my heart out at this point, but the message was clear: get out of my own way.”

These are the words of a patient who took part in a recent study of psilocybin (the active ingredient of magic mushrooms) for treatment-resistant depression, based at Tallaght University Hospital. While this patient reported greater “functionality” with a combination of SSRI antidepressants and psychotherapy, he remained aware of the persistent shadow of depression: “It was still there lurking in the background, ready to start taking over at a moment of weakness.”