Psychedelic researchers are working to discover all the possible side effects and benefits that the therapeutic use of psychedelics like DMT, MDMA, LSA, and LSD come with. The doctors who treat patients using psychedelics do that with strict supervision, and the patient is kept in a secure facility and under the care of the medical practitioner while the drug remains in their system.
For a long time, psychedelics have been viewed as nothing more than recreational substances that work to alter mood and perception, but they are now going through a lot more evaluation by researchers and scientists.
John Hopkins University is one of the leading institutions in this research, and they have now established a Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.
What is a Psychedelic?
A psychedelic, also often called hallucinogen, is a part of a class of psychoactive substances that alter the cognitive function, mood, and perception of the consumer. After ingesting a psychedelic substance, the human senses will go through some form of alteration.
A person that has consumed such a substance might perceive time differently, think in a unique way, and show emotions that they would not usually display.
Psychedelics are also known to produce hallucinations in the consumer, causing the person to hear or see things that are not actually there. Some people might also see or hear a twisted version of their reality.
There are both synthetic and natural psychedelics. The natural ones refer to those that grow in fungi, trees, leaves, and seeds.
Some common psychedelics include:
- Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which comes from the ergot fungus that infects rye.
- DMT, Psilocybin, and magic mushrooms occur naturally in certain mushrooms in different parts of the world.
- Mescaline, which is made from some specific cactus and peyote.
- Morning glory seeds or LSA, which are gotten from flowering morning glory vines.
- Ayahuasca, which is a tea that is derived from the Psychotria Viridis leaves as well as certain parts of the Banisteriopsis caapi vines.
Some of these psychedelics are more popular than others, and you can get them when you buy shrooms online.
Using Psychedelics
Psychedelics’ use has long revolved around recreational purposes, with many people using drugs like mescaline, LSD, and MDMA just to get high. Some people take these psychedelics at parties and others decide to take them in their homes.
Some psychedelics are not legal to be used for recreation, such as LSD and MDMA, while several others do not have legal status. A psychedelic herb by the name of Salvia Divinorum is not illegal based on the United States federal law.
How intense a single dose of a hallucinogen is depends on the user and their environment. A person that takes a psychedelic at a party for the first time might react differently to someone who tries this at home with a few friends.
Psychedelic science, which includes the amazing research going on at John Hopkins University, is currently focused on evaluating how much impact one dose or several doses of psychedelics has on a person suffering from mental or emotional health issues.
How Do Psychedelics Affect The Body and Mind
Psychedelics, or entheogens, can bring about life-changing experiences, hallucinatory effects, and deep insights, as well as some other significant impacts on the body and mind. These substances can increase body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure temporarily, as well as boost certain hormones.
Some psychedelic users have also reported experiencing feelings of anxiety, which is why experienced users always ensure they are in the right setting when taking doses of these psychedelics. When you buy shrooms Canada from Deadhead Chemist, you can also get the necessary information to ensure you have a good trip.
Experienced psychedelic users usually talk about the way their perceptions are altered, and they start to see fractal patterns and complex images around them. A person that is on a psychedelic trip might find it easier to open up to people, as they will be more friendly and trusting.
Another important effect that comes from taking these psychedelics is that the person might feel spiritually elevated. A lot of people have reported feeling more connected to nature and the things around them. Some people have even experienced intense emotions and ego loss.
Daniel Freedman, who is a pioneer of LSD research, spoke about how people that took the substance saw more than they could even explain.
Therapeutic Benefits of Psychedelics
A large part of psychedelic research is focused on finding the positive effects of psychedelics. These substances can help to impact a person going through emotional, mental, or physical issues, or someone who has gone through trauma.
One of the main motivators that push scientists to study the potential positive effects that psychedelics possess is an increase in understanding of psychedelics’ long-term impact. Most people believe that psychedelics have a one-off impact on the mind, so the user returns to normal after a small dose has worn off.
The Human Psychopharmacology journal recently published a study showing that psychedelic experience might bring long-lasting changes to the perception, attitude, and mental outlook of the individual.
People going through addiction, depression, or anxiety might see the world from an entirely different perspective. They will find it easier to face the issues they are experiencing in their lives.
These discoveries make up part of the reason why psychedelic therapy and psychedelic research have tested how taking psychedelics can bring a cessation of smoking, cure long-term anxiety, and even relief from major depression.
Using Psychedelics To Treat Health Conditions
A 2016 NIH study shows the reasons why psychedelics are safe psychologically. The study also displayed the fact that there is no evidence that using psychedelics in treating health conditions will cause the user to become dependent on the substance. There is also no proof that using psychedelics in a controlled environment will cause psychosis.
These psychedelics might be the superdrug we need to treat conditions that do not usually respond well to conventional medicine, and this includes:
- Tobacco Addiction
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Heavy Alcohol Use and Addiction
- Anxiety
- Alzheimer’s Disease
Psychedelic Research with Case Studies
Psychedelic research started initially in the 1950s and 60s, as medical professionals assessed whether psilocybin and LSD could be used to treat alcoholism and other disorders. Those studies did not gain much traction, as psychedelics started to build a bad reputation because of their recreational use by young people.
In 1996, laws started to be formulated that banned the use of psychedelics. By 1968, LSD was outlawed in the United States, before the 1970 passing of the Controlled Substances Act. This bill implied that drugs were not just prohibited for recreational use, but they could not be used for medical research either.
The John Hopkins University Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research is the best-funded and most respected effort to perform research into psychedelics. Both researchers and scientists at the university have worked to evaluate whether or not psychedelics can be used to treat conditions like addiction, Alzheimer’s, and anorexia.
One issue in making people address psychedelics with seriousness is that some studies seem to suggest that these substances can cure a lot of ailments. People have grown skeptical of a substance that is said to fight such a wide range of disorders.
The Renaissance of Psychedelic Research
The person in charge of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research is Roland Griffiths, Ph.D.He has worked in leading some very promising clinical research studies related to using psychedelics in treating alcoholism, treatment-resistant depression, as well as several other disorders.
Griffiths is one of the minds behind the new wave of psychedelic research, and he has been in this field since the 2000s. In the mid-2000s, he got his first government approval to administer high psilocybin doses to healthy volunteers for his research.
The results of that research came out in 2006 and they displayed that the effects of a single dose of psilocybin were safe for the consumers and that it could bring some positive effects on the body.
Another study in 2016 involved patients taking the same substances to notice whether it improved their anxiety and depression as they went through treatment for cancer. This double-blind study showed that those who took psilocybin experienced way fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety while they were undergoing the treatment, compared to those that took the placebo.
What seemed fascinating to the researchers was how about 80 percent of the patients remained less clinically anxious and depressed about six months after the treatment when compared to their state of mind before they were treated. Many of the patients spoke about how they did not fear death any longer, and this was a sign that psychedelics’ effects were long-term, even if they were only taken for a short period.
Many more studies are needed to provide more evidence that these findings were not a one-off, but these studies point to the fact that psychedelics could effectively be used as antidepressants. Even the FDA has granted regulatory approval for treating major depressive disorder using psilocybin.
Psilocybin and Depression
The next level for researchers like Griffiths was to further evaluate psilocybin’s effects on depression. A fresh study was published by researchers at John Hopkins University in JAMA Psychiatry, and it explains how magic mushrooms can positively impact people suffering from major depressive disorder. This is just another example of how magic mushrooms can benefit our lives, and you can also enjoy these benefits when you buy shrooms Canada from Deadhead Chemist.
This new study did not just assess people with a kind of terminal or life-threatening disease. The researchers took 24 people that had been suffering from depression for a long time.
These people had experienced its symptoms for no less than two years each before they agreed to take part in the study. The mean age was 39, and 16 of the participants were women. Most of them were white, with one African American and an Asian.
All of them were weaned off antidepressants with the aid of a physician before they joined the study. The treatment they received included two doses of psilocybin administered by medical professionals for two weeks.
Each session lasted about five hours, as the participant lay on the couch in a method similar to the first study. About 67% of the 24 patients showed at least 50% reduction in their symptoms of depression after just a week and up to 71% reduction in four weeks.
About 54% of them were eventually enlisted as being in remission, which meant that they were not clinically depressed anymore. The long-term effects of this study on the participants remain unclear, although the researchers continue to follow up with each of them and more findings will come as time goes on.
Psychedelics and Tobacco Addiction
Another condition that psychedelics could potentially cure is tobacco addiction. Matthew Johnson, who is a researcher, led a study on this in 2014. He focused primarily on psilocybin and whether or not the substance could help prevent people from smoking.
This study involved patients lying down on a couch, listening to some music, and wearing eyeshades. The researchers worked with these participants for a couple of weeks using cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is a type of talk therapy that works to change the pattern of thinking of an individual.
They would try out this therapy both before and after using psilocybin. The patients took the drug for about three sessions. The first was on the targeted quit date, the second was two weeks after that, and the third dose was administered about eight weeks after.
The patients were evaluated for about ten weeks using breath tests and urine tests to check whether they had been smoking. After six months had passed, the study showed that 80 percent of the patients had stopped smoking for a minimum of one week. This success rate is much higher than other studies similar to this that did not include psilocybin, in which cases the success rate was around 35 percent.
About 67 percent of these patients were free from cigarettes just 12 months later, and about 60 percent did not smoke at all 16 months after.
There is a follow-up of the study that is being performed at John Hopkins University, where 80 participants are given random patches of either nicotine or psilocybin. His study’s results should be made public in the years to come.
Why Do Psychedelics Impact The Brain That Way?
The psychedelic research performed by John Hopkins University and other such institutions has shown that psychedelics impact the brain’s functioning significantly. Most experts remain uncertain as to why psychedelic therapy works so well.
Many scientists believe that psychedelics like psilocybin can affect the communication between the brain’s networks, and this might give a person more control over our reward system, which determines a lot of the choices we make.
Frederick Barrett and other experts in neuroscience are investigating the way psychedelics affect the brain. They are utilizing functional magnetic response imaging to measure the activity within a person’s brain before and after their psychedelic therapy.
Psychedelics and Serotonin
Scientists at Stanford and UNC-Chapel have performed research to better help us understand the way psychedelics alter brain function. Scientists were able to show the way that psychedelic compounds become bonded to the 5-HT2A serotonin receptors that reside on the surface of the brain cells. Some experts are also of the opinion that such a revelation could bring the creation of synthetic compounds that basically remove all the hallucinatory effects that psychedelics bring while keeping all the therapeutic effects. This would be a great addition, certainly for all those who buy shrooms online.
Temporal Lobe
Psychedelics also seem to affect the temporal lobe when ingested. This is the region of the brain where memory and emotional functioning happen.
Neuroscientists describe the brain of humans as “higher in entropy” when a psychedelic is consumed. This can cause a reduced activation of brain structures which are collectively regarded as the default mode network, and it is what makes us have self-conscious thoughts.
Scientists are of the opinion that this process might be why people feel a sort of connectedness with their environment after taking psychedelics. The brain has a higher entropy while there are lower ego-boosting activities.
Treatment of the Future
The stigma and panic that used to revolve around psychedelics is now a thing of the past. Although these substances remain illegal for recreational use, the fear that used to surround magic mushrooms, LSD, MDMA, and such other substances is not nearly on the same levels as it was in the 1950s and 60s.
The FDA and other federal agencies are now allowing certain psychedelics to be used in clinical trials, and this has boosted the chance of scientists getting to understand how these substances could potentially be used for the treatment of several disorders.
Conditions like alcoholism, PTSD, Alzheimer’s, anxiety, tobacco addiction, depression, and others have no conventional cures. Doctors and scientists keep looking for new ways to treat these disorders, especially those with little to no side effects.
Although psychedelics can not be viewed as miracle substances that can treat any disease imaginable, they have a lot of potentials. As the scientists continue to study these psychedelics and reach a point where there are little to no hallucinations with great therapeutic effects, this might change the way these conditions are treated.
For now, the doctors will wait and stay on the lookout for the findings of the research studies and clinical trials being performed at John Hopkins University and several other institutions on the therapeutic effects of psychedelics. You can begin to enjoy psychedelics’ great therapeutic effects when you buy shrooms Canada from Deadhead Chemist. This is the perfect store for you to get all your psychedelic needs, and they provide you with excellent customer support as well to ensure you enjoy your experience with the products. Choose DeadHead Chemist to buy shrooms online and even get a 25% welcome discount when you use the promo code WELCOME22.