'Magic mushrooms' may help dying patients


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(Health.com) -- Terminally ill cancer patients struggling with anxiety may get some relief from a guided "trip" on the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, a new study suggests.

The study included 12 patients who took a small dose of psilocybin -- the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms" -- while under the supervision of trained therapists. In a separate session, the participants took a placebo pill, which had little effect on their symptoms.

By contrast, one to three months after taking psilocybin the patients reported feeling less anxious and their overall mood had improved. By the six-month mark, the group's average score on a common scale used to measure depression had declined by 30 percent, according to the study, which was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

In follow-up interviews with the researchers, some patients said their experience with psilocybin gave them a new perspective on their illness and brought them closer to family and friends.

The patients in the study were all close to death (10 of the 12 have since died), and they had all diagnoses of anxiety or acute stress relating to their prognosis.

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I can see the good in this however what if they get on a bad trip? Poor buggers would die feeling scared/afraid. But im not too sure how that drug works if it's possible to go on a bad trip with it.

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I can see the good in this however what if they get on a bad trip? Poor buggers would die feeling scared/afraid. But im not too sure how that drug works if it's possible to go on a bad trip with it.

Most bad trips come from the mindset of the individual taking the substance.. a person taking a high amount in a setting where they don't feel 100% safe is far more likely to react badly than a person taking a controlled dose under the care of trained doctors.

That's why a lot of people have sober "sitters" with them when they take drugs - to relax more knowing that someone is there to look after them if things go wrong.

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I had some great experiences on shrooms. Much better than LSD with which I've had some freaky trips. Being natural also means that our bodies are used to processing such chemicals.

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I had some great experiences on shrooms. Much better than LSD with which I've had some freaky trips. Being natural also means that our bodies are used to processing such chemicals.

yeh, i've definately have more bad trips on acid than shrooms by far

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