The psychedelic escape from depression (2024)

OUTLOOK
28 September 2022

Clinical trials suggest that psilocybin — the active ingredient in magic mushrooms — can provide durable remission from an increasingly common mental health condition.

Michael Eisenstein⁰

Michael Eisenstein
1. Michael Eisenstein is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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In January 2023, Oregon is due to embark on a groundbreaking real-world experiment in psychedelic medicine. This follows a ballot measure in 2020, in which voters called on the state to begin creating the infrastructure needed to make the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin available as a treatment for mental-health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Canada made a similar move in January 2022, albeit with far more restrictions, allowing designated clinicians to prescribe psilocybin to people with debilitating mental illnesses, such as severe, treatment-resistant depression.

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Subjects

Drug discovery
Depression
Psychiatric disorders
Psychology

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