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Treatment Issue Regarding the Possible Efficacy of Psilocybin on Depression

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Treatment Issue Regarding the Possible Efficacy of Psilocybin on Depression
Jennifer Pepper
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

MM627 Clinical Psychopathology
Tonya Bennett, Ph.D.
Summer 2014 - Final Paper

Treatment Issue Regarding the Possible Efficacy of Psilocybin on Depression
For thousands of years, humans have been using psychedelic plants all over the world for healing purposes. Despite this fact, in 1971, these medicines were classified as schedule I drugs. Schedule I drugs are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse or drugs that have no recognized medical uses. After 40 years of almost-total prohibition, psychologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists are reassessing the role of psychedelic drugs. This research paper will focus on the classical serotonergic psychedelic called psilocybin or the so-called ‘magic mushroom’ and it’s clinical potential in the treatment of various psychiatric disorders.
First, it is important to recognize certain facts about psilocybin that may be unknown due to misperceptions about the plant. Psilocybin is not known to cause damage to the brain or any other organs in the body and is regarded as non-addictive (Nichols, 2004; as cited in Krebs & Johansen, 2013). In fact, studies have found that psilocybin may lead to neurogenesis, or the regrowth of brain cells (Catlow et al., 2013). Psilocybin can cause sustained positive changes in attitudes, mood and behavior, and a recent study suggests it may be helpful in the treatment of anxiety (Grob et al., 2011; as cited in Young, 2013). Franz Vollenweider and his colleague Michael Kometer wrote about how research into psychedelics might identify therapeutic mechanisms in our brains that are based on glutamate-driven neuroplasticity (2010). Recent behavioral and neuroimaging data show that psychedelics “modulate neural circuits that have been

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