2023-07-29 06:57:18
A rather encouraging Californian study published in “Nature” shows the great effectiveness, for four out of ten patients, of taking psilocybin, associated with psychological support.
Géraldine Zamansky, journalist for the Magazine de la Santé on France 5 and every Saturday on franceinfo, today details an American study published in Nature : a substance derived from a hallucinogenic mushroom, psilocybin, would bring hope in the fight against anorexia nervosa.
franceinfo: Seriously, a Californian team has just published very encouraging results with a so-called psychedelic molecule?
Géraldine Zamansky : Absolutely, in this California study, 9 out of 10 patients with anorexia nervosa got better after therapy with this psilocybin. With less anxiety about their weight, their figure, and what they eat. Four of them were even in remission, three months after this treatment. That is to say, they no longer had any of the key symptoms of this disease, where food restriction can create a vital risk.
Sometimes with a radical change in the middle of the session, as Stéphanie Knatz Peck, the psychologist at the University of California who conducted this test. For the first time in her life, one of the patients saw her thinness in the mirror in the room. Until then, she was always too big. This distorted perception of one’s own body is at the heart of this pathology.
And that’s where psilocybin would work. Stéphanie Knatz Peck translates her action by the possibility of getting out of her “mental organization”. A kind of disconnection that allows an opening to other things. The same patient couldn’t even understand how she could have been so obsessed with her weight.
It sounds pretty amazing, how does this psilocybin work?
What then happens in the brain has been explored in other imaging studies. With, for example, an activation of areas associated with a more flexible and creative way of thinking. A valuable action for people with anorexia, stuck in an airtight system.
All the patients also describe a very positive experience for them, even if they are still in difficulty. They would have liked a second session, as in other protocols, where psilocybin was tested with good results. Against depression resistant to conventional treatments and post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Please note, we are talking here about sessions accompanied by professionals. In this study, two psychologists stayed with the patients for up to 10 hours after taking a fairly high dose of psilocybin. Knowing that the effect lasts a maximum of 6 hours. It can be stressful, with, for example, the resurgence of difficult memories, or the occurrence of impressive visions.
The therapists are there to secure the experience. Above all, do not attempt a wild test without this presence. And with safe, strictly dosed products. This is the condition for a psychedelic product to be therapeutic.
1690615401
#Psilocybin #anorexia