How Psilocybin Therapy (AKA Magic Mushrooms) Cured My Depression After Cancer Diagnosis
- chareneehamilton
- Apr 24, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2024
The 'magic mushroom' scores again, this time with research studies that discover a new truth about the mushroom that grows from livestock poop - psilocybin therapy heals moderate to severe mental depression with people who deal with threatening chronic illnesses.

A Personal Journey
I was in the middle of my chemotherapy treatments when I was being hit with overwhelming depressive thoughts.
Will I live? Will my tumors go away completely? What if my cancer comes back?
Feeling out of control of my own body, I tried to manage my fears for my family and friends that were around me.
My support group was always so reassuring, making sure I was fed, had a ride to the doctors, stayed hydrated, etc.
But who could heal the terrible thoughts of my heart? At this point in my life, I had just begun practicing yoga, but still transitioning from my old way of life to the new one I currently have.
I felt lost. Hopeless.

After admitting my depression to a childhood friend, he suggested that I take home a chocolate bar he had made, which was filled with magic mushrooms.
"Too good to pass up," my mind told me, and I grabbed the bar, smiling to myself. It was like my soul knew that this was needed for me.
I had previously experimented with psilocybin therapy before, but that was my early-20's and I was not in the proper headspace. That given, I still enjoyed my trip. However, this time I wanted to go deeper.
I went home, cleaned the entire place, and decorated the area I was planning to trip in with candles, incense, comforting pillows, the whole nine.
The trip that followed that night was the most uplifting, spiritual, connecting trip that I had been on, mentally and literally. Any fears I had about the cancer that was inside of me dissolved away, not even arising during my trip once.
My mind had taken on an elevated form and instead decided to focus on how I could heal in a deeper way than just physical. But how I could elevate my spirit to a point of complete bliss.

The vastness of the Universe was made aware to me, and LOVE was the message that kept repeating itself during my trip. I could not find one reason to feel sorry for myself, even with a rare cancer diagnosis and large tumors right near my heart. I could only smile because I knew that this was a part of my life experience, and what my soul had to go through in order to grow. I felt grateful for being able to have come so far!
I was able to push aside anxiety-based thoughts and focus on the truth of the matter: How does this thought help or hurt me?
Most of the thoughts I had that were rooted in anxiety that surfaced were not helpful, instead, they added to any self-limiting beliefs that I had held onto since childhood. I was becoming more aware of how my thoughts shaped my actions, how I responded to others, and how others responded to me. The universal exchange.

My experience is a common one, with many cancer patients who have voiced joyful emotions, even after a terminal diagnosis. Psilocybin has helped rewire the way people who deal with cancer think about their diagnosis and how they interact with the environment.
The Science Behind Psilocybin Therapy

MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, is a research organization whose mission is to study psychedelics and marijuana for medical and recreational use. This organization has been researching psychedelics since its launch in 1986 and has published mind-blowing results about the effects psilocybin mushrooms have on human bodies. Cancer patients, to be specific, experience less anxiety and depression about their diagnosis during a magic mushroom trip, and had better outcomes when undergoing therapy sessions. Even after the effects of the mushrooms had long worn off, the subjects still experienced mystical-like feelings and showed a new perspective on life itself.
This was three to six months after dosing with psilocybin!
These studies will all yield the same results, just to give us the truth that most Earth-loving, conscious people know: Mother Earth provides the cure.

Cited Sources:
Johns Hopkins Study of Psilocybin in Cancer Patients. MAPS. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://maps.org/other-psychedelic-research/211-psilocybin-research/psilocybin-studies-in-progress/1268-johns_hopkins_study_of_psilocybin_in_cancer_patients
Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Carducci, M. A., Umbricht, A., Richards, W. A., Richards, B. D., Cosimano, M. P., & Klinedinst, M. A. (2016, December). Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England). Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367557/

Charenee Hamilton, CAPM, 200-RYT
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