Depression is a potentially life-threatening disease that is one of the leading causes of disability in the world. In 2017, more than 300 million people suffered from depression. That equates to about 4.4% of the world's population, making it the world's second most common public health disease after cardiovascular disease. About 50% who are treated for depression develop unipolar treatment-resistant depression, a type of severe persistent depression in which conventional methods or drugs do not have effect. Psilocybin is a tryptamine found in a variety of species of psychedelic mushrooms. Psilocybin is a prodrug that breaks down into the active substance psilocin which interacts with serotonin receptors and produces psychoactive effects. Psilocybin is classified as a schedule I drug in most of the world and is therefore not considered to have any medical value. Psilocybin has been researched intensively in recent years, mainly focusing on its potential antidepressant effect. Psilocybin's effects have been widely covered in English literature but hardly at all in Swedish literature. This bachelor thesis will hopefully fill that gap and encourage more research on the subject here in Sweden. The purpose of this bachelor thesis was to evaluate, based on published studies, whether psilocybin potentially can have an effective, safe, and long-lasting antidepressant effect on depressive symptoms. Six studies are presented, and the results indicate that that 20–30 mg of psilocybin together with psychological support in an optimal environment can potentially have a long-acting, safe, and effective antidepressant effect on adult people with moderate to severe unipolar depression. Based on these results, the drug classification of psilocybin should be questioned and investigated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-103423 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Hansson, Max Daniel |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kemi och biomedicin (KOB) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Page generated in 0.0024 seconds