Depression is a mental illness that is characterized by a depressed mood, reduced energy levels, loss of interest in activities, and decreased concentration. It is the biggest cause behind the approximately 800 000 suicides committed every year, and one of the largest contributors to global disability. Between 12-55% of all patients suffering from depression do not experience improvement of symtoms after two or more pharmaceutical treatments. Even when the treatments do work, it often takes several weeks for them to acheive full effect.In recent years, research on the antidepressant effects of the controlled substance psilocybin has resumed after a long hiatus. Psilocybin is a psychedelic substance with hallucinogenic, mind-altering properties. It occurs naturally in several species of mushrooms, and has a long history of usage in spiritual rituals by native populations of South America. After ingestion, psilocybin is converted to its active form, psilocin, by enzymes found in the body. Psilocin has a structure similar to serotonin, and the hallucionogenic effects are mediated by psilocin binding to serotonin receptors. The mechanism behind the potential antidepressant effects is not yet fully known, but believed to involve several pathways.This bachelor´s thesis aimed to, through reviewing literature, examine whether psilocybin can constitute a safe and effective treatment for depression. Six scientific studies on the topic were chosen from the databases PubMed and ScienceDirect to be presented in this thesis. All of the chosen studies used established rating scales to evaluate the degree of depressive symtoms before and after one to two doses of psilocybin.The results from the analysed studies indicate that psilocybin, when combined with psychological support, has the potential to constitute a safe and effective treatment for depression. This presupposes that 20-30 mg is administrated in a safe environment with professionally trained indivuduals present. The effect also appears to be long-lasting after only one to two doses, with twelve months being the longest observed period of effect. The number of participants in the studies were however too low to draw any definitive conclusions regarding either effect, safety nor period of effect. More studies with larger study populations are needed to further examine these aspects, and more comparisons with other treatment options are called for.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-120455 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Andersson, Elisa |
| 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 |
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