INDIANAPOLIS — Lawmakers in Indiana gave the green light this session to study the effects of "magic mushrooms."
Some might be skeptical, but doctors believe the drug, also known as psilocybin, could treat mental health conditions like anxiety, addiction and depression. 13News sat down with a Hamilton County mother who said it's life-changing.
For years, obsessive-compulsive disorder held Caroline Hagedorn captive. She couldn't go in her own backyard.
"It's really robbed me out of a lot of joy and time in my life. It's been a big struggle for me," Hagedorn said about her OCD.
Intrusive thoughts made a typical day for this stay-at-home mom almost impossible.
"Driving places would take me twice as long due to circling back and re-checking behaviors that I would have," Hagedorn said.
Contamination fears controlled her life.
"Emptying the dishwasher would be difficult for me and emotionally taxing," she said.
OCD also forced her to quit her job.
"Being a nurse in a hospital and contamination fears don't mix very well. So, I had to step away from that due to my OCD," said Hagedorn.
Medications didn't work. Hagedorn was desperate.
She and her husband watched a documentary about a clinical trial on psilocybin, described as a natural psychedelic.
"It gave me hope. I didn't have a whole lot of hope that there would be something that could work for me. I felt like I tried everything. So, I applied for it, and I got accepted," Hagedorn said.
She went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where she was assigned two medical experts, who "got to know me and my OCD very well," she said.
She completed two doses of psilocybin. Doctors say the treatment interacts with a person's serotonin — which is a chemical that carries messages between the nerve cells in the brain and throughout the body.
Researchers believe psilocybin changes the binding activity of serotonin receptors, reducing symptoms of OCD.
Hagedorn took a capsuled, synthetic version of psilocybin.
"The second dose was extremely impactful and life-changing for me," Hagedorn said.
She describes raw emotions and imagery.
"I always knew I was on a couch in a clinical trial with psilocybin and very grounded the entire time," Hagedorn said. "I remember after the session was over, my husband came in and I remember looking at him and saying, I don't know if I'm going to have OCD when I leave this room."
She hasn't had severe OCD for several months, and she's no longer on any medication.
Hagedorn testified in February at the Indiana Statehouse, supporting House Bill 1259 to provide money for psilocybin studies to Indiana research institutions like Indiana University and Purdue University.
Lawmakers listened.
"My compulsions that were taking hours of my day are now just minutes, and there are some days where I don't have any," Hagedorn said.
Now, she's telling her story to help whoever she can.
"It has given me so much time, joy back in my life that I did not have before," Hagedorn said.
The law goes into effect July 1.
13News reached out to Indiana and Purdue universities. Right now, there are no talks of applying for funding for a clinical study. However, they are open to discussing in the future.
To look into completing a clinical trial, Hagedorn found her trial here.