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John Hopkins University School of Medicine has released a study which concluded that magic mushrooms can cause positive personality changes. Isn’t this the best news you’ve received all week? For us it is! It’s not a gag, the research was partially funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and it appeared in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Shocking new studies appear every day, such as the one that discovered that there is a link between obesity and lo academic performance in teenagers, but this one really takes the cake. Apparently, a single dose of psilocybin (the ingredient that makes the mushrooms magic) was enough to make lasting personality changes in almost 60% of 50 participants in the study. The people were more open, more positive; they were more imaginative and more broad-minded. Magic Mushrooms Can Cause Positive Personality Changes
The subject’s personality was assessed at the beginning, then two months after each of the five drug sessions which lasted for eight hours and then 14 months after the last session. The sessions were separated by at least three weeks.
During the intense drug-session, the subjects were invited to lie down, wear headphones through which music was played and an eye mask to block external visual distractions. They were asked to focus on their inner experiences and relax.
The assessment that magic mushrooms can cause positive personality changes is a mind-blowing fact. The changes are also permanent because they were sustained for more than a year by almost all of the participants.
Almost all of the subjects considered themselves spiritual, which was defined in this study by participating in religious services, meditation or prayer. Half of them had postgraduate degrees and were psychologically healthy.
The researches can’t yet say if the results can be generalized to the entire population, as further studies are needed, but so far, the results seem encouraging.
Some degree of caution is needed, because some of the participants to the study reported fear and anxiety for a part of their drug session, but none had any lingering effects. This study was performed in a controlled environment.
