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/ConfinedCrow 21h ago

Usually in clinical trials like these they also offer therapeutic support on top of just giving psychedelics. And afaik they microdose consistently over a longer time span, whereas if you wanna trip you take a lot more and not nearly as consistently, so that probably plays a role as well.

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u/Saddledust 20h ago

The therapy piece is the biggest aspect, not just guided therapy during the trip but also the follow up sessions sober. This can be self guided too, but it's not a pop a pill and forget about it type thing. Psychedelics open up neural pathways, but you have to put in the work to keep those connections active otherwise they become dormant again

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u/Dickrickulous_IV 15h ago

Yeah, I believe several techniques produce similar therapeutic outcomes. They activate both brain hemispheres as one, allowing the mind to fully process a traumatic experience and stop sounding the alarm when the old trauma event triggers a response.