TLDR; 🍄 > 💊 OK, I’ll point out the elephant […]

TLDR; 🍄 > 💊
OK, I’ll point out the elephant in the appendix: Psilocybin crushes the SSRI standard of care for depression in the first comparative study across ten efficacy outcomes. The Nᴇᴡ Eɴɢʟᴀɴᴅ Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟ ᴏꜰ Mᴇᴅɪᴄɪɴᴇ conservatively called it a tie: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032994

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and the sales of ineffective antidepressant drugs are $14 billion per year, and growing. “The World Health Organization predicts that – without significant changes – mental illness will cost the world economy $16 trillion by 2030, making it the largest disease burden globally.”
— UBS https://flic.kr/p/2jcRcoS

Escitalopram is a leading SSRI antidepressant sold under brand names like Cipralex and Lexapro.

“A closer look at the research reveals that the psilocybin group saw greater results in a shorter period of time, including improvements in ability to feel pleasure, express emotions, and increased feelings of well-being. Feelings of anxiety and suicidal ideation were also reduced significantly. ‘It’s hard to avoid looking at the values themselves and thinking, hold on, psilocybin had twice as many people in remission than escitalopram’ Carhart-Harris says.”
— https://www.forbes.com/sites/amandasiebert/2021/04/14/could-psilocybin-treat-depression-new-head-to-head-trial-shows-its-at-least-as-effective-as-leading-ssri/?sh=68c9ccb26afd

“57% of patients in the high-dose psilocybin group were judged to be in remission for their depression by the end of the six weeks, compared with 28% in the escitalopram group, while neither group had serious side-effects. Anthony Cleare, professor of psychopharmacology at King’s College London, said the study provided ‘some of the most powerful evidence to date that psychedelics may have a role to play in the treatment of depression’”
— https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/14/magic-mushroom-psilocybin-show-promise-treatment-depression-clinical-trial-finds