New study finds psilocybin greatly and quickly relieves depression

A new study of 24 adults with depression finds that the psychedelic substance psilocybin, together with therapy, quicky relieved the depressive symptoms in most participants. Psilocybin is a compound found in so-called “magic mushrooms.”

The findings appeared on November 4 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Effect of psilocybin 4x stronger than traditional antidepressants

As the paper explains, “the effect sizes reported in this study were approximately 2.5 times greater than the effect sizes found in psychotherapy, and more than 4 times greater than the effect sizes found in psycho-pharmacological depression treatment studies.”

The side effects of psilocybin are more limited than those of conventional antidepressants,. These include headaches and some emotional unrest during the sessions. The side effects of antidepressants, on the other hand, have more far-reaching side effects. These include suicidal ideation, decrease in sexual drive, and weight gain.

And psilocybin therapy seems to work after only one or two doses, whereas antidepressants usually need to be taken every day.

Compared to ketamine, another psychoactive substance that has recently been found to alleviate depression, psilocybin has several advantages. The antidepressant effects of psilocybin seem to last longer. Psilocybin also has a lower potential for addiction and adverse events than ketamine.

Two five-hour psilocybin sessions

The study involved 24 subjects who had suffered from depression for a longer period, on average about two years. Their average age was 39.

Each participant took part in two sessions, supervised by the researchers. The sessions lasted about five hours each.

A very large reduction in depressive symptoms

The subjects all completed the GRID-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. On this scale, a score of 24 or higher means severe depression, and 17–23 means moderate depression, Lower scores of 8–16 indicate mild depression, and 7 or less signifies no depression.

When the study began, the subjects’ average score was 23 — in other words, pretty close to severe. But when they took the assessment again 4 weeks later, their average score had dropped to 8 — meaning almost no depression.

The researchers plan to follow the subjects for the next year, an will report on the long-term results in a future study.

Study: “ Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial”
Authors: Alan K. Davis, Frederick S. Barrett, Darrick G. May, Mary P. Cosimano, Nathan D. Sepeda, Matthew W. Johnson, Patrick H. Finan, and Roland R. Griffiths
Published in: JAMA Psychiatry
Publication date: November 4, 2020
DOI: doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.3285
Photo: by James Bak via Unsplash

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Originally published at https://www.psychnewsdaily.com on November 4, 2020.