by Sarah Stuteville

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I have experienced mental health challenges for most of my life. My first panic attack was when I was 11 years old, and I found myself paralyzed and hyperventilating in a public restroom on a family outing. Some periods, like the ones when I have been in talk therapy, have been better than others. But anxiety, and its shadow-twin depression, have always been there. 

As a new mother, my experience with postpartum depression sent me to psychopharmaceuticals. And my first year on antidepressants was a gift. They gave me enough relief and space for the talk therapy to work. For me to begin to look around and see some joy in my life as a parent. 

But 18 months in, the days that opened with panic and ended in tears were increasing. My vision of my future was again a darkening tunnel. A close friend mentioned that relief might come from an unexpected source: magic mushrooms.

Continue reading OPINION: Magic Mushrooms for Mental Health — The Complex Future of Psychedelic Therapies  →