We live in a culture where drugs that are sometimes used for recreation are automatically ruled out for medical research. Current adults were brainwashed at a young age to believe that drugs like marijuana or psilocybin (magic) mushrooms are inherently bad and should be avoided at all costs.

However, magic mushrooms show promise as a cure or aid to mental diseases like depression, PTSD, OCD as well as addiction and are used effectively for spiritual reasons as well.

Medical news today describes mushrooms well by saying they, “treat depression without dulling emotions.” They explain that a common occurrence with modern anti-depressants is a feeling of “emotional blunting, indifference, or apathy.” Imperial College London‘s recent study of magic mushrooms suggest that mushrooms may effectively “reset the brains of depressed patients” without all the negative effects of a traditional anti-depressant.

According to ICL’s research, “Functional MRI imaging revealed reduced blood flow in areas of the brain, including the amygdala, a small, almond-shaped region of the brain known to be involved in processing emotional responses, stress and fear. They also found increased stability in another brain network, previously linked to psilocybin’s immediate effects as well as to depression itself.”

Depression isn’t the only illness that magic mushrooms are known to help with. According to Psychedelic Times there has also been research to support that psilocybin mushrooms as well as other psychedelics may also help with PTSD, OCD, alcoholism, and nicotine addiction.

Psychedelic Times explains, “A 2013 study from the University of South Florida has found that psilocybin, the psychoactive component of magic mushrooms, is able to stimulate neurogenesis, which is the growth and repair of brain cells in the hippocampus. As contemporary researchers understand it, the hippocampus is the brain’s center of both emotion and memory.

This regenerative effect was observed in mice who exhibited the ability to overcome fear conditioning far better than mice who had not been given psilocybin. The implications of this study are that magic mushrooms, a once-derided psychedelic which have already been shown to help treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcoholism, and nicotine addiction, may also be a powerful treatment for PTSD and similar conditions in humans.”

Not only are magic mushrooms used for medical purposes but people also use them as a spiritual tool. After consuming magic mushrooms you have extremely profound trips that alter the way you look at yourself, religion, life, and more.

Dr. William Richards, of Johns Hopkins University explained, “With psilocybin these profound mystical experiences are quite common. It seemed like a no-brainer that they might be of interest, if not valuable, to clergy.”

Magic mushrooms aren’t just the drug that mindless stoners take in order to have a good time on the weekend. Magic mushrooms are a powerful tool that should be taken seriously in the medical field. They are a drug of introspection and have proven benefits. They are a prime example that you shouldn’t pass judgement on something unless you seriously research it yourself.