One Direction’s Liam Payne has teamed up with Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett to trial using elements of magic mushrooms to treat people with depression.
The pair are speaking “every day” as clinical trials get under way, after Steve encouraged Liam to invest in ATAI Life Sciences, which the BBC star describes as “the biggest psychedelics mental health company in the world”.
Entrepreneur Steven – who at 28 is TV’s youngest Dragon – says: “There are clinical trials going on at the moment using one of the psychedelic compounds called psilocybin. It is a compound that is found in magic mushrooms.
“It unlocks your subconscious, as much of what causes resistant depression and depression generally isn’t that you have something like a melt in your brain, it is more to do with something that has happened to you.”
Speaking at the British Podcast Awards, he added: “What we are pushing for is for it to be legal in clinical settings – not for it to be legal out on the streets.”
In an interview with Steven last month, Liam spoke of his “severe” dark moments while in the group, and a “pills-and-booze phase” he went through.
A representative for Liam declined to comment.
