More Americans with mental health conditions are using psilocybin

More Americans with mental health conditions are using psilocybin Use of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound found in numerous mushroom species, has sharply increased since 2019, according to a new study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The spike is particularly pronounced among Americans with mental health conditions, the study shows. The rate of adults 18-29 reporting psilocybin use in the past year jumped by 44%, according to the study, while adults over 30 showed a 188% increase. Perhaps unsurprisingly, poison control center calls related to psilocybin also skyrocketed among adults, teens, and even children. “What really surprised us was how quickly these numbers changed and how many people using psilocybin had conditions like depression, anxiety or chronic pain,” Karilynn Rockhill, a researcher at the Colorado School of Public Health who co-led the study, said in a press release. “New laws or growing interest in its potential mental health benefits may be prompting people to seek psilocybin as a form of self-treatment.”More Americans with mental health conditions are using psilocybin Use of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound found in numerous mushroom species, has sharply increased since 2019, according to a new study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The spike is particularly pronounced among Americans with mental health conditions, the study shows. The rate of adults 18-29 reporting psilocybin use in the past year jumped by 44%, according to the study, while adults over 30 showed a 188% increase. Perhaps unsurprisingly, poison control center calls related to psilocybin also skyrocketed among adults, teens, and even children. “What really surprised us was how quickly these numbers changed and how many people using psilocybin had conditions like depression, anxiety or chronic pain,” Karilynn Rockhill, a researcher at the Colorado School of Public Health who co-led the study, said in a press release. “New laws or growing interest in its potential mental health benefits may be prompting people to seek psilocybin as a form of self-treatment.”