How magic mushroom ingredient psilocybin helps patients with depression or PTSD change how they feel, by rewiring the brain with more connections

The use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin was a legitimate field of medical research in the 1940s and 1950s, and LSD was even employed as a psychiatric medicine. But such research stopped in the mid-1960s when they were declared Schedule 1 illegal drugs in the United States. Over the past decade, however, researchers have returned to studying the therapeutic uses of psychedelics to treat depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and as part of palliative care for those suffering from terminal cancer. Fresh research suggests that psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms”, can be a treatment…