“Magic Mushroom” Compound Dramatically Reduces Depression Scores After One Dose

A new study shows that psilocybin may have profound affects, when properly used.

The story of our lives is etched into the pathways of our brains. Some of those pathways are positive, giving us a sense of self-worth, a resilience to adversity. Some are maladaptive, promoting anxiety, fear, and depression. The pathways lead to actions, and those actions tend to reinforce the pathways. Anxiety breeds anxiety, depression breeds depression.

I think this is part of the reason why problems with mental health are so difficult to treat — our brains are molded into these problematic self-reinforcing configurations and we keep falling into the same ruts. And yes, talk therapy and SSRIs can help to nudge us out of those ruts, work to create new, more productive ruts, and improve our health. But those gains can be difficult to maintain over time.

But what if there were a reset button in our brains? What if we could step outside of those ruts, even for a few hours, and see the pathways for what they are? What if we could start over?

It seems too good to be true, and, to be clear, it may be, but data continues to emerge that this chemical — psilocybin — the psychoactive component of so-called…