Psychedelics are known to alter an individual’s mood, perception and cognitive processes when ingested. These substances can also alter one’s perception of time, induce hallucinations, and lead to deep introspective and emotional experiences. Individuals who use psychedelics have reported that the drugs may facilitate inner healing through promoting introspection and emotional release. The drugs can also help alleviate feelings of depression and isolation by creating a feeling of unity and interconnectedness.
Now new research has looked into whether psilocybin can prompt inner healing for patients with depression. The research is based on a hypothesis that people who consume a high psilocybin dose may report stronger feelings of internal healing as compared to people who receive a dose akin to a placebo.
Joseph Peill, the author of the study, and his colleagues recruited 59 participants who suffered from depression that ranged from moderate to severe forms of the disorder. Their study was a segment of a larger experiment that analyzed the impacts of synthetic psilocybin therapy with the effects of escitalopram, an antidepressant. Both therapies were administered together with psychological support.
In the study, the participants were grouped into two groups, with one group receiving 1mg of the psychedelic, working as the placebo. The second group received 25mg of the psychedelic. Once the drug’s effects wore off, each participant was required to rate whether they felt like their brain/mind/body was healing naturally and/or by itself.
In addition, each participant completed a number of evaluations, including the Emotional Breakthrough Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory for depressive symptoms, the Altered States of Consciousness questionnaire, the Challenging Experiences Questionnaire and the Mystical Experience Questionnaire.
The researchers determined that subjects who received 25mg of the psychedelic reported considerably more pronounced feelings of internal healing in comparison to the placebo group. In their report, the researchers suggested that inner healing could be a part of the experience of using psilocybin.
The researchers also discovered a link between greater decreases in symptoms of depression and higher scores on inner healing in the higher-dose group two weeks after the treatment’s administration. This, the researchers explained, indicated that inner healing could play a part in psilocybin’s therapeutic effects.
These findings make huge contributions to the scientific understanding of psilocybin’s psychological effects. It is important to note, however, that the study sample was relatively small and feelings of inner healing were self-reported.
Other researchers involved in the study included Fernando Rosas, Miriam Marguilho, Tommaso Barba, Christopher Timmermann, David Erritzoe, Kyle T Greenway and Robin Carhart-Harris. The study’s findings were reported in the “Journal of Psychopharmacology.”
As more startups such as Seelos Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SEEL) conduct their own studies on psilocybin, many more insights about this hallucinogen are likely to be brought to our attention over the coming years.
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