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Psilocybins Pros And Cons

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Tristan O’Hare
A. Elco
ENG 102
7 March 2016
Psychedelic Pharmaceuticals When someone owns a car, unless they have a freshly filled tank, they constantly think about how much gas they have left. Glancing down every couple of minutes just to make sure that they’re still good to go. The worst thing to have happen would be to run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, late at night, without a gas station in sight. Now, imagine not being able to call for help. The only thing to do would be to either sit and wait hoping someone will eventually drive by, or begin a trek in search for a gas station. After choosing to take the long walk for miles and miles you finally see a gas station. Your legs are about to give out and you’re beyond exhausted, but …show more content…

Johnson at the John Hopkins School for Medicine took ten men and five women who had been smoking cigarettes for many years and have failed to quit and gave them psilocybin, the psychoactive substance found in a certain type of mushroom. 6 months after taking the mushrooms, 80% of the subjects had quit smoking while 30% of the people reported it as being one of the most important and beneficial experiences they ever had (JHU). In addition to psilocybins ability to help with curing addiction, a study published by the Journal of the Royal Society Interface showed its beneficial effects on people who suffer from depression. M.R.I scans were done on people with depression while under the influence of psilocybin. Parts of the brain that are believed to be responsible for overactivity in those who are depressed were shown to have slown down while other parts of the brain responsible for the release of endorphins were more active. Thus, allowing for the personal evaluation of one's own subconscious mind to work out their issues and look at their disorder while in a positive mindset, helping to improve overall happiness and …show more content…

Mdmaptsd.org, a site designed to share information on treating PTSD with MADA-assisted psychotherapy, shared a study done by the Journal of Psychopharmacology where they took people who qualified for PTSD treatment and gave MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to one group and solely psychotherapy to another. After the study was over, 83 percent of the people who took psychotherapy alone still showed signs of PTSD, while only 25 percent of those involved in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy still showed signs of PTSD (TPM). Unlike all of the other psychedelics mentioned, if used in excess, MDMA can cause overdose and ultimately brain damage, affecting the release of serotonin in your brain which can lead to an even more sever case of depression. This, however, does not occur immediately and requires abuse of the drug over a long period of time. This why it should only be administered while the patient is under close examination and used for medical purposes only and not as a “party drug” like MDMA is most common

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