Are magic shrooms a cure for gloom?

The curtains are closed against the afternoon sun and pink salt lamps bathe the room in a warm glow. Pictures of trees cover every wall, as if to emulate a forest. In the middle of the room there’s a bed covered in crisp, white sheets, with an eye mask atop the pillow. It has the ambience of a luxe wellness retreat, but beneath the sheets is a standard-issue hospital bed belonging to the Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research in London. It’s in this space that researchers are trying to prove the efficacy of a treatment that could revolutionise psychiatry.

They’re exploring the potential of magic mushrooms’ psychoactive component – psilocybin – as an aid for depression. Back in 2017, the same team showed that psilocybin could ‘reset’ the brains of those with treatment-resistant depression. In this trial, they’re comparing the effects of psilocybin with those of a conventional selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant. “Psychedelics work completely