Depressed are self-medicating with magic mushrooms

More and more people are turning to psilocybin, the hallucinogenic chemical in magic mushrooms, to treat their depression, anxiety and chronic pain.

Around 12 percent of Americans—31 million people—are using magic mushrooms, and the take-up rate is rising by 188 percent every year in adults over the age of 30, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered.

Although it’s not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, America’s drug regulator, psilocybin is being used for conditions such as PTSD, depression and anxiety, especially in states that have decriminalised it.

It’s not without its dangers. Psilocybin-related poison centre calls have risen dramatically between 2019 and 2023, doubling among adults and increasing seven-fold in children.

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