Harbor-UCLA Pediatrics

Harbor-UCLA Pediatrics faculty member Charles S. Grob, M.D., was recently featured in an MSNBC article about a new Johns Hopkins study on the use of "magic mushrooms" to treat depression, anxiety and addictions. The study reveals how much of the substance patients could consume to acquire the greatest benefit with the least amount of risk.

Although Dr. Grob was not involved in the new study, he recently conducted a landmark experiment at UCLA using the drug psilocybin (the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms") to treat patients with terminal illnesses. Research on drugs like LSD and "magic mushrooms" isn't new. According to Grob, psychiatric research on hallucinogens took place from the 1950s to the 1970s but it was halted due to public health concerns about drug abuse. Only in the last ten years have hallucinogens experienced a renaissance in psychiatric research.

When asked about the new study, Grob said "They're demonstrating that, under optimal conditions, they can reliably induce mystical-level experiences, which in and of themselves appear to have a therapeutic potential."

With regard to people coping with terminal illnesses "That thread of meaning that has carried you through your life…that often evaporates," Grob commented. "Having a profound experience seems to be able to re-infuse people with that meaning."

Dr. Charles S. Grob is the Division Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and a Professor of Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Read the full MSNBC story: here