If you suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) the first thing you should know is you’re not alone. Millions of people worldwide suffer with MDD and many of those who can afford insurance are prescribed SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.)

But many find little or no relief from these anti-depressants with names like Wellbutrin, Zoloft and Prozac – among countless others. This could be because those drugs do not work as advertised.. . .  and also because of something called the placebo effect.

In other words, there is now tons of credible evidence that Big Pharma and the medical profession pulled a fast one and that these pills don’t do anything unless patients really believe that they will. That’s what the placebo effect is – basically the power of prayer.

Psilocybin, the psychoactive component found in some species of mushroom, is a different story entirely.

It’s hard to find legitimate research on the efficacy of the SSRIs like Zoloft because most of the studies are funded by drug companies. If you’ve suffered from MMD and seen a psychiatrist, odds are they didn’t have the good sense to clear the office of Pfizer mugs and Johnson and Johnson fleeces they got on all all-expenses paid work-vacation in Aruba where the pharmaceutical industry and medical professionals work out marketing strategies and other issues.

Anyway – these new psilocybin studies are not industry-funded and are peer-reviewed and double blind. That means independent researchers working separately have to come to the same conclusion before evidence is published.

MDD is a monster. If you know or love someone impacted by it, you probably get that. But for those that don’t understand the difference between MDD and sadness or a depressive episode, this quote from the author Barbara Kingsolver is instructive:

“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, ‘There now, hang on, you’ll get over it.’ Sadness is more or less like a head cold – with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.”

Psychiatrists hate MDD almost as much as their patients because it’ so hard to treat and makes powerful doctors feel completely helpless.

But there’s growing and solid evidence that help may be just around the corner in the form of an all-natural treatment that people can grow at home – like cannabis and those magic mushrooms.

So, if you’re pulling your hair out watching Chuck Todd on MSNBC try and confuse you about politics, read this article instead. There’s a lot of really good news out there but you probably won’t read it in the New York Times or see it on FOX News – corporate entities more concerned with the health of the profits of the drug companies than health care for humans.

The thing about finding good news is that it helps if you know where to look.