The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US Department of Health has awarded the status of "breakthrough therapy" to the use of the active substance of hallucinogenic mushrooms - psilocybin for the treatment of depression. This means that now this psychedelic can be legally used for further research in the treatment of mental disorders.
The serotonin receptor agonist psilocybin is a psychoactive substance found in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Its effectiveness in treating severe depression was shown two years ago, and last year, scientists were able to show that psilocybin can influence brain activity even with resistant depression. The study of the psychotherapeutic use of psilocybin was popular as early as the 60s of the last century, but it has remained controversial in terms of legality until now.
The American research organization COMPASS Pathways has been studying the potential use of psilocybin for the treatment of depression, especially refractory depression (the so-called depression that has not responded to two courses of treatment in a row). They were the ones who applied for the use of psilocybin in clinical trials, which the FDA approved this summer. At the same time, COMPASS also applied for breakthrough status for psilocybin therapy, which they received within a few months.
It is worth noting that the FDA assigns the FDA the breakthrough therapy status not to those medicinal products and methods that have already passed clinical trials and have the status of the newest drugs that deserve special attention, but mean that the FDA has permission to use it in active clinical trials. This status means that trials of the drug will be given priority in further approval of its use and acceleration of distribution as a drug. So far, psilocybin is still on the list of illegal drugs in the United States, but if scientists can prove its effectiveness in treating depression and other mental disorders, the status will be reviewed.
In 2016, the FDA also approved large clinical trials for MDMA (also known as ecstasy). At the same time, the Interdisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Research (MAPS), which sponsored the trial, applied for a breakthrough MDMA psychotherapy designation. This FDA approval was issued within a year, which means that ecstasy can be used as a legal and effective treatment for mental disorders in the coming years.
Today, about 20 percent of the population of our country is at risk of developing depression. Every eighth person experiences a depressive period at least once in their life. Depression is a serious medical condition. Sooner or later, it can go away on its own, so many patients do not fall into the field of vision of doctors. Women get depression much more often than men. This is due to the peculiarities of the female psyche, which is more unstable and subject to external influences.
Meanwhile, today medicine has a sufficient amount of funds to treat depression. Now in the world there are about 100 of their varieties. Modern drugs are different from the stimulants that were previously used for the drug treatment of depression - caffeine, morphine, opium preparations. Modern remedies and medicines for the treatment of depression do not give euphoria, but only eliminate the depressed state of the psyche. Restores normal, human activity and perception of life, lost in depression. All antidepressants are available over the counter with a doctor's prescription.
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The most common drugs for the treatment of depression, the basic drugs, so to speak, are melipramine and especially amitriptyline. Both are used for typical forms of depression, when a person has a depressed mood, does not want to move and talk, and all thoughts revolve only around the events that caused the depression.
All new drugs and drugs for the treatment of depression mainly affect the secretion of the "pleasure hormone" - serotonin in the body. With these forms of depression, it is clearly not enough. The most interesting are Prozac and its varieties. Abroad, it is antidepressant number 1. It has a very quick effect - it raises vitality and mood literally in the first 3 - 5 days of administration. A new drug with a similar effect - Paxil. It has a powerful antidepressant effect, but, unlike Prozac, it begins to act no earlier than 2 weeks later. However, its effect is milder and deeper, and most importantly, Paxil has far fewer side effects in the treatment of depression in women.
Those types of depression, in which motor and speech lethargy prevail, are treated with antidepressants with an activating effect, for example, drugs of the melipramine group. They have a greater effect on the exchange of norepinephrine, a hormone that increases physical activity. For the treatment of such depression, drugs close to amitriptyline and melipramine, but with a narrower spectrum of action - lerivon and anafranil, are very popular. They are used for atypical depressions, when, in addition to these, there are also symptoms of causeless anxiety. Such depressions can be both hereditary and caused by some kind of experience in early childhood. As a rule, there is no obvious reason for depression in such cases.
Lidiomil is used for severe depression accompanied by unreasonable fear, anxiety, mania, or obsessions. Depression is not uncommon in women in the period before menstruation or in menopause, in older people who are oppressed by the hopelessness of existence. In such cases, you can use the new drugs Aurorix and Caoxil.
In some cases, all of these medications are prescribed at the same time as tranquilizers. These treatments for depression act to calm the nervous system, complementing and reinforcing the effects of antidepressants. Amitriptyline is often combined with Relanium, Phenazepam, or Xanex. Side effects of psychotropic drugs most often depend on the individual characteristics of the patient. When taking amitriptyline, drowsiness appears first of all. But this is a temporary phenomenon that disappears on the 5th - 7th day. Antidepressants can sometimes cause dry mouth, and women may experience urinary retention. For any side effect, you should first adjust the dose of the drug - this will be done by the doctor.
