After one or two doses, the active component of magic mushrooms, psilocybin, has demonstrated promise in easing the symptoms of depression. It also has minimal negative effects and no evidence of becoming addictive.
However, factors including dosage, prior psychedelic use, and type of depression have not been examined in previous research that could affect psychedelic efficacy.
In order to investigate this, researchers looked at randomised controlled trials that contrasted psilocybin with other drugs as controls, such as vitamin B, a placebo, or microdosing psychedelics.
The BMJ, a medical journal, published their research.
They examined seven trials with 436 participants who suffered from depression. The “Hedges’ g” system was used to quantify the change in their depression.
