Post: I’m 78 and taking magic mushrooms – I’ve never looked back

Pensioners Mushrooms When David Christie paid a visit to his son and daughter-in-law in Sussex two years ago, he had a far more exciting trip than usual.

The 78-year-old had begun to suffer from periods of low mood. These would come and go, but his family began to worry. “I was depressed, and my son had read into it and decided to do something about it,” he says.

That something was magic mushrooms, and the outcome proved transformative for his mental health .

“The [acute] effects lasted for about a week, I felt much more cheerful and optimistic,” he says.

Crucially, while he still has down days, Christie has had no serious or long-lasting periods of depression.

Magic mushrooms are a Class A drug. But a growing body of evidence suggests that psilocybin – the main hallucinogenic compound – could be a promising treatment for depression, anorexia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among other mental health conditions.

It has also been suggested that the benefits of psilocybin therapy could be greater for pensioners than younger people. A recent meta-analysis of previous studies published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that the drug worked better for older people – among patients taking psilocybin for depression, the benefits were more pronounced for every year older a patient was. Though a further review of the data is still pending.

Professor Guy Goodwin

, emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, says that while there is not sufficient evidence to suggest psilocybin therapy is more useful for older people in particular, it could be especially suitable for them for other reasons. “It’s certainly a safe drug and therefore it might be a good idea for the elderly,” he says. “[It] doesn’t impair blood pressure, doesn’t produce falls, and doesn’t require continuing treatment with a sedative drug.” Magic mushrooms are a Class A drug, making research difficult – Richard Vogel/AP Christie’s own experience with psychedelics unfolded in the darkened downstairs bedroom of a bearded man named Bill.He gulped down a concoction made from powdered magic mushrooms mixed with cranberry juice, lay down on a bed, and waited to […]

I’m 78 and taking magic mushrooms – I’ve never looked back