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15 January 2025
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Optimism is an important trait to maintain a positive outlook on life. Staying optimistic is not so easy these days. If the same is true for you, it’s good to know that researchers have found that psilocybin seems to stimulate feelings of optimism. Keep hope, read on below and we will explain to you what is known so far.
During the study, conducted by scientists at Monash University in Australia, rats were administered psilocybin. This is the mind-altering substance in magic mushrooms. The researchers used computer models during their observations, and they found that the rats were more likely to perform reward-oriented tasks. This would mean they felt more optimism and began to believe they could achieve their goals.
What was also significant here is that these effects on behavior persisted for a long time. The results of this study may help us understand how psilocybin can alleviate certain symptoms of depression, such as lack of motivation, withdrawal and apathy. The better we understand this, the better we can develop treatments to address these mental symptoms in people.
The point is that we know psilocybin is effective, we just don’t really understand why yet. Multiple studies have shown psilocybin to be a promising remedy for mental disorders, such as addiction, anorexia, PTSD and depression. So now it also appears that psilocybin can promote feelings of optimism. But unfortunately, we do not fully understand exactly how this natural substance affects the brain. It does work, but the question is how?
The results of the study, published in Translational Psychiatry, show that psilocybin could potentially be useful in counteracting the main symptoms of depression. It can probably help with other conditions as well, where people withdraw and have problems with motivation.
The research was led by PhD candidate Elizabeth Fisher. She worked with Professor Jakob Hohwy and Dr. Claire Foldi. Professor Hohwy indicates that the results are promising. They can potentially help understand the mechanisms behind how psychedelics work, whereby they can alter the brain and improve motivation.
What happened during the study was that rats that had been given psilocybin were clearly more motivated to explore their environment and perform tasks for which they received a reward. Even after the psychedelic effects subsided, the rats saw increased positive mood and decreased pessimism. The computer model concluded that the rats received more rewards during tasks after a dose of psilocybin than without a dose because they were more engaged.
They were also more likely to make more attempts because their resistance to failure was reduced. This seems to indicate that psilocybin can create an optimism bias, modifying inner beliefs. Thus, the rats were more likely to choose to believe in themselves and a good outcome when they were given psilocybin.
“These fascinating results show the mechanism by which psilocybin can cause increased optimism in animals. Hopefully this will translate to humans as well,” Hohwy explained.
Fisher says she hopes this research will lead to more studies, which will lead to confirmation of these results in humans. “As we get a better understanding of how psilocybin works, we can also figure out who can benefit from this kind of therapy with psychedelics, and for whom this would not be a good treatment.”
“There are a lot of people who are depressed,” she continued. “Our ultimate goal is to figure out how psilocybin could be used to treat key symptoms of depression, such as lack of optimism and feelings of apathy.”
It may all still sound a bit vague. Optimism is not easy to study and difficult to quantify. And then again, this is research on rats and the results cannot be directly applied to humans. But it is known that the psychoactive substances in magic mushrooms have positive effects on mood symptoms that it can help break fixed thought patterns and that it can enhance feelings of connection. So it is certainly also possible that psilocybin can induce feelings of optimism.
Optimism, then, can be described as not being held back by fear, an increase in perseverance and the desire for new experiences. And this then led to rewards after completing a task. That doesn’t sound bad right? It would be nice if you could always be like this in life. And you can, if you would like to use mushrooms yourself sometime, you can take a look at our grow kits. But if you would rather not trip, you can also opt for microdosing.
Microdosing means taking only a small dose of magic mushrooms or truffles. The dose is so low that you will not suffer from the psychoactive effects, but can notice that you are benefiting from them. Microdosing could potentially help with anxiety symptoms, depression and lack of creativity. It can give you a boost in your energy, you get into the flow easier and it promotes concentration. Read more about microdosing hir and check out our shop for our range of microdosing packages.
Always consult a doctor if you suffer from symptoms, whether depressive or other mental symptoms, and ask if psilocybin is appropriate to use in your situation.
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