[nxzero]

Says more about how poorly the brain is understood than anything else.

Also, very possible that the measures that were take to keep people "safe" were a factor. Anyone know if there was a control group given the same treatment (double blind) - but with a placebo? __________

EDIT:

Direct link to the related research paper:

Psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression: a feasibility study

http://www.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/pdfs/S22150366...

[tpm]

The measures that were taken to keep people "safe" were definitely a factor. In psychedelic circles it's called 'set and setting' and it is an integral part of the experience. Under the influence of psychedelics, one is much more susceptible to the information from the environment.

I don't think it's possible to do fully blinded studies with psychedelics. However in an older study (Griffiths I think) they gave placebo or psilocybin to the participants on random basis, but eventually everyone had one experience with placebo and one with psilocybin. The measured effects did clearly distinguish between placebo and psilocybin.

[hippich]

I wonder what could be given as placebo tho. It is not like you do not notice you are tripping.

[lawpoop]

I think in Johns Hopkins studies they were using amphetamines, and also they recruited people who were hallucinogenic-naive.

[DigitalJack]

But then you'd have to do a study of amphetamines and depression. It's really tricky to come up with a sham effect in a placebo without destroying the integrity of the control group.

[jjawssd]

Can't you physically isolate the two groups somehow?

[DigitalJack]

The problem with studying a drug using control groups and placebos is that for some drugs (such as marijuana, LSD, etc.) people will know that they must have gotten a placebo due to the lack of effect.

Researchers will sometimes use a substitute to create some effect that a naive participant may believe to be the real thing, but it can be difficult to be convincing. This can damage the integrity of the control group because they would know they hadn't gotten the real thing (and thus possibly negating the placebo effect).

People who know they got the real thing may see benefits that are actually the placebo effect, and if your control group isn't able to control for this effect, it lowers the quality of your study.

There are also moral issues with tough studies such as last ditch experimental studies on stage IV cancers. Even in a double blind study, the research will know they are giving placebos to some of the participants, and thus have no chance of helping them.

[soylentcola]

From what I remember, they used methylphenidate (Ritalin) so the control group would "feel something" but, assuming that none of the participants had used either Ritalin or psilocybin before, they may not know the difference between Ritalin and low-dose psilocybin.

If I'm not mistaken, the psylocybin group wasn't given "tripping balls" dosages but rather more modest ones.

[nxzero]

Not true, you'd be surprised what the mind is able to do on its own. Besides both groups should be exposed to "trippy" stimulus, which for the naive would be enough. Seen non-alcoholic experiments where the unknowning participants showed ALL the signs of having had alcohol; that is until they were told they were not drinking alcohol.

[Alex3917]

> I wonder what could be given as placebo tho.

I don't know about this trial specifically, but they usually use something like methylphenidate or nicotene.