WASHINGTON:
The "spiritual" effects of psilocybin from so-called 'magic' mushrooms last for
more than a year and may offer a way to help patients with fatal diseases or
addictions, US researchers
reported.
The researchers also
said their findings show there are safe ways to test psychoactive drugs on
willing volunteers, if guidelines are
followed.
In 2006, Roland
Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues
gave psilocybin to 36 volunteers and asked them how it felt. Most reported
having a "mystical" or "spiritual" experience and rated it
positively.
More than a year
later, most still said the experience increased their sense of well-being or
life satisfaction, Griffiths and colleagues report in the
Journal of
Psychopharmacology.
"This is a
truly remarkable finding," Griffiths said in a statement. "Rarely in
psychological research do we see such persistently positive reports from a
single event in the
laboratory."
The findings may
offer a way to help treat extremely anxious and depressed patients, or people
with addictions, said Griffiths, whose work was funded by the US National
Institute on Drug Abuse.
"This
gives credence to the claims that the mystical-type experiences some people have
during hallucinogen sessions may help patients suffering from cancer-related
anxiety or depression and may serve as a potential treatment for drug
dependence," Griffiths
said.
While psilocybin is
widely outlawed, many US states and some countries overlook its use by
indigenous people in religious ceremonies. Supervision of its use is key, the
researchers noted.
"While some
of our subjects reported strong fear or anxiety for a portion of their day-long
psilocybin sessions, none reported any lingering harmful effects, and we didn't
observe any clinical evidence of harm," Griffiths
said.
Hallucinogens should not
be given to people at risk for psychosis or certain other serious mental
disorders, the researchers said. But Griffiths stressed that even those who
reported fear said a year later they had no permanent negative
effects.
Of the volunteers who
took the one-day test of psilocybin, 22 of the 36 had a "complete" mystical
experience, based on a detailed questionnaire. Griffiths said 21 continued to
rate highly on this standardized scale 14 months later.