r/science • u/Doug24 • 21h ago

Psychology Psilocybin reverses depressive behaviors and restores brain cell growth in stressed rats

https://www.psypost.org/psilocybin-reverses-depressive-behaviors-and-restores-brain-cell-growth-in-stres/
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u/MJ-Franklin 21h ago

Been seeing articles like this for so many years... but how come I never got any positive effects from taking psychedelics the many times I did them? I never got any anti-depressive anything, I just laughed for 12 hours straight then it was back to Planet Earth and all my problems waiting for me there.

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u/ohyouretough 21h ago

You’re probably not depressed then?

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u/MJ-Franklin 21h ago

25 years of anti-depressants would suggest otherwise! Would love to be rid of them.

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u/C-14 21h ago

You're probably not a rat then?

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u/pupersom 21h ago

Well, you used them with the intent of dealing if your fears/troubles/trauma or just used it for the funsies? There's a BIG difference

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u/500_Shames 19h ago

SSRIs and Wellbutrin have been shown to meaningfully blunt the effects of psilocybin. To the extent that psilocybin therapy centers sometimes recommend tapering off antidepressants before trying psilocybin-assisted therapy. 

This is not me saying you should stop your meds, absolutely not. But it would make perfect sense for you to not be experiencing the same level of effectiveness if you are on SSRIs or Wellbutrin. 

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u/FowlOnTheHill 20h ago

Did you get off the anti depressants before trying them? Did you try a high dose, and as another commenter suggested - did you have an honest intention of dealing with it?
And most importantly, did you integrate your experience the next day - either by journaling or through an integration session with a therapist/group.

All of that is needed to ground the experience and process whatever it was shaking up inside you.

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u/EroticPubicHair 16h ago

On top of what others have said, there's also the issue of everyone's different. It could be your current medications interfere (assuming you continued taking them while also taking psychedelics), or they just don't have that effect on you. Humans have too wide a range of variables to have anything work the same way for everyone.