Magic mushrooms and blueberries: a recipe for treating PTSD

Individuals with PTSD frequently report experiencing social exclusion and social stigmatization. Social isolation will further compound their traumas, whether the nature of their trauma is mental, physical, moral or a combination. Such was especially the case with Veterans returning from the unpopular war in Vietnam.  Unlike the more recent excursion in the Middle East which had much support following the 9/11 atrocities, the Vietnam veterans were subject to significantly more indifference, rejection and criticism.

Now an exciting new study from the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, authors of numerous psilocybin studies and the Institution that gave rise to Carl Jung, whose work had a profound influence on Joseph Campbell, have published an article titled Effects of serotonin 2A/1A receptor stimulation on social exclusion processing (PNAS April 2016).

In their study, the University of Zurich researchers demonstrated that psilocybin had a positive effect on brain regions to include the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex by stimulation of specific serotonin receptors. These findings may be relevant to the normalization of negative social interaction processing in psychiatric disorders characterized by increased rejection sensitivity. Plus this reduction of psychological pain and fear can be of great importance in facilitating the therapist-patient relationship and the psychotherapeutic treatment of formative negative social experiences.

Psilocybin has demonstrated an ability to increase subjective feelings of connection with the environment and other people, which may lead to stronger and more empathetic connections between people. This in turn may help reduce “egocentric bias” and “render negative experiences more bearable,” the authors of the study wrote.

In another recent article (FASEB April 2106) detailed in MedicalXpress and titled Eating blueberries could regulate genetic and biochemical drivers of depression and suicide the benefits of compound(s) in blueberries that help to ameliorate the depression and suicidal tendencies often associated with PTSD is described.  This is good news since available medical treatments offer only limited relief and a Clinical Trial utilizing psilocybin to treat PTSD, which offers the most promise of any known compound, has yet to be initiated.  Johns Hopkins, this is in your ballpark.  Time to hit a homerun.

The researchers from Louisiana State University (LSU), working with animal models, have found that eating blueberries could help to reduce the genetic and biochemical drivers behind depression and suicidal tendencies associated with the disorder. Specifically, eating blueberries increase the expression of the gene SKA2 which is found to be decreased in those with those who are depressed and may show suicidal tendencies. The rat's blueberry diet was equivalent to about two cups per day for a person which, with the present price of blueberries, would be quite expensive.

Previously the researchers found that rats with the PTSD-like experience fed a blueberry-enriched diet showed increased levels of the signaling chemical serotonin in the brain. Psilocybin has a positive effect on the serotonergic system as well so there may be a good synergy here.

It was LSU researchers who were the first to isolate DMT (dimethyltryptamine) from the mammalian pineal gland which I have written about previously.

Of course eating 2 cups of blueberries a day will probably not cure anyone of PTSD but it does help to highlight the importance of diet, along with exercise and stress reduction towards mitigating the effects of PTSD.  But then again, if I ever have the opportunity to be part of a therapeutic session of psilocybin for PTSD, I'll be sure to follow it up with a big bowl of juicy, organic blueberries!

“There are moments when one feels free from one’s own identification with human limitations and inadequacies ... Life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only being.” — Albert Einstein