Most people consider “hard drugs”, including psychedelics, useless beyond illegal recreational abuse. However, new research into the psychedelic psilocybin has scientists reconsidering whether “magic mushrooms” could treat depression, anxiety, addictions, Alzheimer’s, and other mental disorders.

Psilocybin creates new links between neurons in the brain, forming new neural pathways, which are often the cause of habits and addictions.  Normally, the more an action is performed, the more pronounced the path becomes and the easier the path is to traverse.  This results in an action being able to be performed with less focus, as the brain requires less thinking to perform it each time.  Psilocybin can modify these paths and create new ones, which, when controlled, can change how the brain reacts at a fundamental level and therefore reduce the effects of mental disorders.

Scientists are exploring psychedelic experiences (colloquially “trips”), where people often have “spiritual” experiences, for their value in combatting mental ailments. These “good trips” are contrasted with “bad trips” which can bring the same spiritual enlightenment to users but feel like a panic attack and can induce negative flashbacks. Even then, some people do not experience any deep reflection while on psychedelics. Despite their relative rarity when psychedelics are delivered safely and after preparation, the risk of “bad trips” is preventing psychedelics from being widely used as medicine.

For the people who do not wish to have a “psychedelic experience”, researchers have been experimenting with microdosing. A microdose of dried psilocybin ranges from 100 to 300 milligrams, compared to a normal dose of around five grams. Current research finds that microdosing improves subjects’ moods, but the jury is still out on whether microdosing helps with depression, anxiety, and the slew of other potential mental maladies.

While there has been recent research that discusses the possible benefits of psilocybin and other hallucinogens, it does not take long to find a story about someone who did not take psychedelics responsibly and had a mental breakdown for as long as six hours. Furthermore, psilocybin still has its issues even when used in a calm environment. In one study, 77% of people who took psilocybin had headaches, nausea, and dizziness. There was even a small group that reported having thoughts of self-harm. Alongside stigma for psychedelics as “hard drugs”, this means that research development into psilocybin has been slow to take off.

Psilocybin and other psychedelics are not wonder drugs; while they do look promising, they still have some side effects that should not be ignored. A new branch of psychedelic therapy may arrive in the near future, helping curb the rise in mental illness. Regardless, the brain is still a mystery which scientists are trying to unravel, and psychedelic study could provide new insights into the functions of our least understood organ.