Hallucinogenic mushrooms for depression and alcoholism: medical illusion or "revolutionary" treatment?

What if this dubious mushroom found on the edge of the forest turned out to be the key to a revolution in the treatment of depression or addiction? This is the bet of New Zealand , which this Wednesday, June 18, opens the way to the medical use - strictly controlled - of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

In reality, this country is far from opening the door to total deregulation. Products based on psilocybin, a substance naturally present in certain mushrooms, remain unapproved medications there.

"But a very senior psychiatrist has been given permission to prescribe it to patients with treatment-resistant depression," Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said of the change.

Mushrooms containing the now-popular molecule psilocybin grow in our region. In Europe and France, around ten species have been identified. Be careful, they should not be consumed as is, as they have a long history of poisoning . In France, with the exception of a few special authorizations for scientific studies, their therapeutic use is currently prohibited.

But what do we really know about the effects of this psychedelic molecule? As contextualized in an article from Inserm , two French researchers have already reviewed in 2021 more than twenty studies published between 1990 and 2020 on the effects of several psychedelics against various psychiatric disorders . The object gives the color: "a panacea?"

"The researchers conclude that these substances constitute 'promising, rapidly effective therapies,' with benefits that can last 'several months after a single dose.'"

However, several limitations are listed in this work. Notably, the quality of the studies considered. "Most involved between ten and fifty patients, whereas the research required for the approval of a conventional drug generally includes several thousand."

Furthermore, "the clinical trials analyzed were open-label, not double-blind and randomized," the French scientific institute specifies. However, new studies have since been published. And their results, which still require confirmation, appear just as good.

Two clinical trials are currently underway in France. One study, focusing on "resistant depression," is being led by the Clinical Research Center at GHU Paris . The other, conducted at Nîmes University Hospital , aims to determine whether taking this molecule can help people with alcoholism.

"One of the major aspects is that these therapeutic effects appear immediately after taking them; they are immediate and last over time, unlike antidepressants, which must be taken every day and whose effectiveness is observed after several weeks," Lucie Berkovitch, psychiatrist and director of the French study on the effects of the molecule on resistant depression, explains to BFMTV.com.

In short, with just one dose, a person who has suffered from depression that has not responded to conventional treatments would show significant improvement. And this is not a hallucination.

"This involves administering these psychedelics in a hospital setting under medical supervision, after having undergone psychotherapy preparation. And, the next day, there is an integration session, where the patient shares their experience" and their hallucinations, explains Mickaël Naasila, research director at Inserm.

"It is important to remember that this is a supervised treatment, in a medical setting, combined with psychotherapy," he insists.

After treatment, the results are "revolutionary" or "miraculous" according to the experts interviewed and involved in these investigations, who agree on the particularly promising aspects of these treatments.

Psilocybin binds to our serotonin receptors, the famous "happy hormone." "The molecule acts on serotonin receptors, called 5HT2A receptors. Activating these receptors will cause a whole range of effects in the brain, altering activity in certain regions," explains Lucie Berkovitch.

For his part, the Inserm research director describes a "reconfiguration of the brain" while "the mystical experience (hallucinations, editor's note) opens the minds" of people suffering from these disorders.

While these effects are promising and carry strong expectations, the studies currently underway must confirm the "completely unusual" nature of these actions, as the Parisian researcher explains. "We want to understand what this almost miraculous response is made of (...) we cannot say that we are suspicious, but it is important to understand the ins and outs of it."

The results of this work might have been known a little earlier if the history of American politics hadn't, decades ago, collided with that of scientific research. In full swing in the 1950s and 1960s, research on psychedelics came to a sudden halt in the United States and worldwide under the influence of the "War on Drugs" led by the administration of President Richard Nixon.