Psilocybin, Depression, and Instagram Medical Advice 

I was on escitalopram for 10 years and that is definitely not how I thought it was pronounced

anecdotal: for myself psychedelics can help with my depression/anxiety but you have to be pretty open about the experience. also anecdotally I've known people who have taken mushrooms who seem to not be changed by it. For me prescription medication works better for day to day anxiety, but leaves me with an increased likelihood of a migraine. anyone telling you that your depression will be helped my mushrooms are probably using their own experiences to sell you on a treatment. Try meditation and self reflection first.

The way you mispronounce escitalopram doesn’t instill confidence. Why only look at one study?

I think psylocibin alone can't have the desired treatment effects on depression, especially not to the degree where it'll be perscribed medically. What does show promise is psylocibin + psychotherapy and to me is honestly going to be the future of psychiatry

Hey Aaron. I think there is a major misrepresentation in this video of the current research. You rightly quote the study critiquing brainwide association studies (BWAS), which measure the correlation between brain structure/brain activity within and between functional networks and symptoms/clinical presentation/traits. These are one-time measurements and do require thousands of participants. But I believe that you are doing the medical community a disservice by not mentioning that the psilocybin studies did not use the BWAS approach, but compared intra-individual changes before and after psilocybin consumption (=an intervention, measured longitudinally) and especially by not quoting the BWAS study fully (relevant parts capitalized): "Using non-BWAS approaches, many fundamental links between the human brain and behaviour have been uncovered and replicated in small neuroimaging samples. WITHIN-PERSON DESIGNS (for example, LONGITUDINAL), studies with induced effects (for example, lesions or tasks), or both (for example, INTERVENTIONS) frequently have increased measurement reliability and effect sizes. ... In many cases, within-person, induced-effects approaches are not only cost-effective, but also most relevant to clinical care. Thus, small-sample neuroimaging will always be critical for studying the human brain." Also, you critisised the psilocybin studies for their small sample size (n=22 Psilocybin/21 Escitalopram). Again, from the BWAS study: "Neuroimaging-only studies are typically adequately powered at small sample sizes. For example, central tendencies of human functional brain organization among groups can be accurately represented by averaging within small samples (that is, n = 25)". Am I wrong in seeing the situation this way? I'd love to hear your input.

To all the comments saying "it worked for me", I guess I'll spare you my NEGATIVE anecdote. But, some of those people who it didn't work for died from their illness, while refusing to take antidepressants because they aren't "natural" and are vilified by the wellness community.

Yes, about time someone talked about this! One thing to be addressed, is that individuals may respond differently, so I'd like to know more about the effect sizes. If some people made drastic improvements, while others showed no improvement, that's quite different than if most participants had mild/moderate improvement.

I know multiple people on different antidepressants at the moment. And the one thing they all have in common are multiple horror stories about unmanageable and sometimes permanently disabling side effects. As well as catastrophic withdrawal symptoms when their doctor changes their meds to try to relieve those side effects. If psilocybin works no better than existing drugs but has less unpleasant side effects and less withdrawal symptoms then it would still seem to be a great option

I keep telling people that there are natural resources that works and don’t have side effects, I recommend you try out psychedelic mushroom, micro dosing psychedelic mushroom was the best decision I made to beat depression , not only ketamine makes you feel like a zombie with no emotions but other antidepressants that don’t work a bit, you should definitely try psychedelic mushroom, I had depression and anxiety but after treating myself with psychedelic mushroom I was more efficient in all I did , I’m in my 40’s and I’m breaking barriers, the stigma and access to it has been difficult for people that need it I get it from an online vendor that specializes in the trade of psychedelic products all natural from the earth and no side effects , everyone show start looking on the bright side of things that works and not feeding the never ending pockets of pharmaceutical companies

Aw I got all excited for minute

Why the hell aren't there more studies? There seems to be a lot of possibilities with these kinds of substances, so I don't understand why more aren't jumping on this research.

All the people reflexively typing "but it worked for me" need to stop. You're not going to change the fact that your personal experience is not evidence of effective treatment. Stop.

that's not how you pronounce "escitalopram"...

what we need, isn't someone saying that new treatment works or kills you, we need evidence

One week after my first encounter with mushrooms. My life felt like a rebirth. I was a depressed asshole. I really have felt total happiness since. I really hope it lasts

I hope you revisit this topic soon. Newer studies have been published with more promising results.

Do butt pillows that say they fix your sitting posture work? Do bras that say they fix your posture help? I’m guessing no, based on the lack of research your videos have taught me to look for, but I’m still not great at doing it myself honestly. I’m assuming they’re the whole standing desk thing rebooted. I workout and stretch but still I’d love for these to work. Still, I want as little of my money going to snake oil as possible.

Beware the Wellness crowd.

so funny. the first paper: psilocybin works as well as escitalopram. Second paper: psilocybin works BETTER than escitalopram. Aaron: it's hard to say what's true since these results don't match each other. Also, it takes escitalopram 2 months to kick in, so we need to give it more time... ME: yeah. so you're saying that the psilocybin works at least as well, and works faster. Oh, and also it won't give you erectile dysfunction or make you gain weight? Yeah, we definitely don't have enough information to start coming to conclusions... sigh.

Bold of you to assume that ssris actually treat patients with depression.

I must admit that "Uberfacts" is a very appealing and marketable name.

Thanks!

There is a great deal of anecdotal evidence for psychedelics being able to relieve depression and anxiety. Personally I found that after one tab of LSD my anxiety was greatly reduced for weeks afterwards.

We definitely need much more extensive research. I have a 10yo son with a multitude of mental health issues. I'm not willing to try any of these potential remedies without a lot more research. But I'm hopeful he can benefit from new treatments when he reaches adulthood.

God, spambots are so annoying. And so stupid. You're not going to get many customers after a video that suggests your product doesn't work. lol

Definitely don't get your medical advice from Instagram.... get it from RU-vid instead?

Please do a video on kedamine

One thing to note is that, since escitalopram is definitely effective, psilocybin not being significantly better does not mean that psylocybin isn't effective (and may mean the opposite).

It seems to me a quicker acting antidepressant is a major plus.

Worked for me. I'm a much happier and more productive person post mushroom experience.

I'm glad you revisited this particular study, since last time you addressed the topic this study was covered briefly to the point of disappointing. I was really hoping you would have talked more about the discussion within the study here (rates of complete remission of symptoms were higher in the psilocyin group), and the idea that the psilocybin treatment was once every 3 weeks (besides daily placebos) vs the antidepressant pill daily. Also, your word choice seems to focus on conveying that we can't say psilocybin is better than escitalopram (negative/neutral framing) vs stating that it appears to be equally effective (positive/neutral framing). I'm all for cautioning when there isn't enough robust research, but I'd appreciate when the research that's available (albeit underpowered) is presented beyond the abstract or cherry picking just the MRI timing part. For all of your videos, providing the study doi or link in the description section would also promote your viewers to read the studies, since your goal here is health literacy.

how weird, I was just talking about escitalopram earlier today

The thing I got from that study as you reported it is that the psilocybin is as good as the antidepressant. At that point then it would be interesting to know if it has less side effects or at least lower chances of serious side effects. Personally when it comes to medication, I am very interested in the side effects, even if the medication is slightlt less effective but has much less side effects I prefer it. For instance more my allergy medication I switched to Allegra because although it wasn't as effective overall for me, it did not make me feel like I wanted to sleep all day.

Earlier studies double blind with more than a thousand (some including FMRI) show it's better at treating more than just depression, also something not mentioned.

I've taken antidepressants and after a long time of taking them I thought "maybe I kinda feel better but I don't know, I can't really tell." Then I tried psilocybin; You feel better immediately and it's an obvious, long lasting difference. Do the studies, sure, but psilocybin works. No doubt about it.