Better Than Antidepressant Pills? Magic Mushroom Successfully Cures Depression in Clinical Trial

Could there be really magic in these mushrooms?

A short study conducted by researchers in Imperial College London revealed that psilocybin found in magic mushrooms eases depression.

In a trial study, 12 people who were diagnosed as clinically depressed were given an oral dose of psilocybin for a certain period of time.

None of the patients included in the study had previously responded to standard medications, such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), or had electroconvulsive therapy.

Results showed that after just a week, the patients' symptoms improved and after three months, five patients were completely treated.

One of the participants in the trial talked to The Independent and narrated his experience about the magic mushroom.

Kirk Rutter, who lost his mother in 2011 had been suffering from clinical depression and he claims his state never improved despite taking antidepressant drugs and undergoing counseling.

"However this soon passed, and I had a mostly pleasant - and sometimes beautiful - experience," Rutter told the news site which mentioned he experienced "psychedelic turbulence," after taking two doses of psilocybin.

Magic mushrooms are called for their namesake because the hallucinations give them the feeling of having different perspective about things, which makes them feel better.

"That is pretty remarkable in the context of currently available treatments," Robin Carhart-Harris, a neuropsychopharmacologist at Imperial College London and first author of the latest study told Nature.

Magic mushrooms have hallucigenic properties and they are as illegal as cocaine and heroin. Only 30minutes is needed before its hallucigenic property kicks in, which can last up to eight hours.

Narconon, a website about drug information stated some of the effects of the magic mushroom include changing a person's perceptions of color, sound, light and movement.

"Along with these effects, some people also develop nausea, muscle weakness, and other physical changes," the website writes.

The study was published in journal, The Lancet.