Psilocybin Therapy Studies: Key Findings
Trial of Psilocybin Versus Escitalopram For Depression, Published April 2021
https://blossomanalysis.com/papers/trial-of-psilocybin-versus-escitalopram-for-depression/
Key Findings:
- Psilocybin was shown to be as effective as standard antidepressants for reducing depression symptoms over a 6-week period when analyzing participants self-reporting.
- Significant differences were found favoring psilocybin across two secondary depression metrics.
- Secondary measures generally favoured psilocybin, but no conclusions can be drawn from the data at this time. All the study can definitively conclude is that psilocybin therapy is as effective in reducing depression symptoms as escitalopram, a standard antidepressant.
Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder, Published November 2020
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2772630?resultClick=1
Key Findings:
- Significantly reduced depression scores immediately following psilocybin-assisted therapy session.
- “Clinically significant antidepressant response to psilocybin therapy persisted for at least 4 weeks, with 71% of the participants continuing to show a clinically significant response at week 4 of follow-up.”
- Four weeks following psilocybin-assisted therapy, 54% of participants were in remission for their depression.
- “psilocybin was found to have low potential for addiction.”
Clinical Potential of Psilocybin as a Treatment For Mental Health Conditions, Published January 2017
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6007659/
Key Findings:
- Psilocybin-assisted therapy found to be safe, with no long-term negative side effects.
- “Psilocybin may play a role in reducing suicidality and improving mood.”
- Participants reported a significant and persistent increase in positive attitude and improved mood.
- Significant decrease in anxiety up to 3 months following participants’ psilocybin-assisted therapy session.
Acute, Subacute and Long-Term Subjective Effects of Psilocybin in Healthy Humans: a Pooled Analysis of Experimental Studies, Published September 2010
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881110382466
Key Findings:
- “Short- and long-term safety was evaluated, and there was no indication of increased drug abuse, persisting perception disorders, prolonged psychosis, or other long-term deficits in functioning.”
- “The number of adverse reactions from psilocybin was few in number, resolved quickly, and was mostly associated with the highest doses of psilocybin. ”
- “The subjects were followed for 8 to 16 months post psilocybin administration and exhibited no long-term negative side effects.”
Long-Term Follow-up of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy for Psychiatric and Existential Distress in Patients With Life-Threatening Cancer, Published January 2020
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881119897615
Key Findings:
- “Results suggested that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy facilitated improvements in psychiatric and existential distress, quality of life, and spiritual well-being.”
- “Reductions in anxiety, depression, hopelessness, demoralization, and death anxiety were sustained at the first and second follow-ups [4.5 years later].”
- Almost 5 years following their psilocybin-assisted therapy, “Participants overwhelmingly (71–100%) attributed positive life changes to the psilocybin-assisted therapy experience and rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives.”
Psilocybin With Psychological Support For Treatment-Resistant Depression: Six-Month Follow-up, Published November 2017
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-017-4771-x
Key Findings:
- “Of the 19 patients who completed all assessments, all showed some reduction in depression severity at 1 week and these were sustained in the majority for 3–5 weeks.”
- “Results remained positive at 3 and 6 months respectively.”
- “Treatment was generally well tolerated and there were no serious adverse events.”
- “Symptom improvements appeared rapidly after just two psilocybin treatment sessions and remained significant 6 months post-treatment in a treatment-resistant cohort.”
Decreased Brain Modularity After Psilocybin Therapy For Depression, Published May 2021
Key Findings:
- Psilocybin was found to decrease brain modularity, which caused brain connectivity to become less segregated and was correlated with lower depression scores in participants.
- The standard antidepressant (escitalopram) used in this study did not demonstrate a reduction in brain modularity, although it did succeed in reducing symptoms of depression.
- Psilocybin demonstrated “robust and reliable antidepressant effects.”
- “Psilocybin leads to increases in cognitive flexibility, which correlates with lower depression scores.”
- “Specifically, psilocybin is able to resolve the abnormally constricted brain landscape that can be seen in depressed populations.”
Exploratory Controlled Study of the Migraine-Suppressing Effects of Psilocybin, Published November 2020
Key Findings:
- Following a single administration of low dose psilocybin, migraine patients experienced a significant reduction in their migraines measured 2 weeks following the dose.
Pilot Study of the 5-HT2AR Agonist Psilocybin in the Treatment of Tobacco Addiction, Published November 2014
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25213996/
Key Findings:
- At the 6-month follow-up after exposure to psilocybin treatment and experimentation, 80% of participants were abstinent from tobacco use.
- Those participants who did cease tobacco use, did so after the first moderate dosing session.
Pilot Study of Psilocybin Treatment For Anxiety in Patients With Advanced-Stage Cancer, Published January 2011
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/210962
Key Findings:
- In advanced-stage cancer patients with anxiety, and undergoing therapeutic treatment assisted with psilocybin (low-dose: 0.2mg/kg), mood was significantly increased and sustained over 6 months at the follow-up period.
- Anxiety levels were also reduced and sustained at the 3-month check-in period.
Increased Amygdala Responses to Emotional Faces After Psilocybin For Treatment-Resistant Depression, Published November 2018
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390817306391
Key Findings:
- Current treatment methods for a variety of neuropsychological conditions work on a chronic, continuous basis. Psychedelic methods seek to provide treatment in a small number of profound and therapeutic experiences.
- The amygdala is the structure of the brain sensitive to emotional stimuli. In clinically depressed patients, the amygdala is hypersensitive to negative emotional stimuli; this is typically treated with chronic use of SSRIs, which aims to reduce this hypersensitivity. Upon psilocybin administration, increased amygdala responsiveness to emotional faces was observed; allowing patients to feel emotionally re-connected and accepting after the treatment.
- SSRIs not only diminish hypersensitivity to negative emotional stimuli, but they diminish amygdala sensitivity to emotional stimuli generally.
- Psilocybin therapy allowed patients to accept all emotions, whereas SSRIs enforced emotional avoidance and disconnection.
- Psilocybin therapy allowed emotional confrontation, breakthrough, and resolution.
Characterization and Prediction of Acute and Sustained Response to Psychedelic Psilocybin in a Mindfulness Group Retreat, Published October 2019
Key Findings:
- Through the use of psychedelic medicines, profound changes in self-consciousness may be experienced.
- Similarly, meditation practices also alter self-consciousness. Both are associated with experiences and feelings of insightfulness, selflessness, bliss, and unity; and both have evidence for alleviating symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress; both have positive impacts in healthy and clinical populations.
- When used/practiced together (psychedelics + meditation), greater feelings of bliss and unity are experienced than meditation alone.
- Following psychedelic-assisted therapy and a meditation retreat, 86% of participants felt to be in a blissful state, and 70% experienced strong feelings of unity (versus 48% and 40% with the meditation retreat alone, respectively).
- Controlled “set” and “setting”, in therapeutic environments, ensure more positive effects of psychedelic experiences [emphasizing the need for safe, controlled clinics to be available for psychedelic medicine administration]
