Psilocybin therapy 4 times more effective than antidepressants, study finds ☼ via New Atlas
Dec 29, 2021
‘A new study is presenting the first published data from preliminary human trials investigating the effect of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). The incredibly positive results have been described as just a “taste of things to come” with a larger Phase 2 trial well underway.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted psilocybin, the primary psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, a Breakthrough Therapy designation on two occasions over the past 24 months. Initially the designation was granted to help accelerate trials for severe treatment-resistant depression, but more recently the classification focused on trials for major depressive disorder.’
Over the last few years, extensive preliminary research has shown psilocybin to be potentially effective in helping terminal cancer patients manage end of life anxiety. Initial psilocybin trials focusing on depression concentrated specifically on treatment-resistant depression - a clinical classification that categorizes patients suffering from MDD who have not responded effectively to at least two different pharmacological antidepressant treatments during a current depressive episode..
Philanthropist Tim Ferriss, who financially supported this preliminary study, calls this new research a 'critically important proof of concept.' A well-known advocate for psychedelic medicine, Ferris says these promising results are only the beginning of a major paradigm shift in mental health treatment.
"How do we explain the incredible magnitude and durability of effects?" asks Ferriss. "Treatment research with moderate to high doses of psychedelics may uncover entirely new paradigms for understanding and improving mood and mind. This is a taste of things to come from Johns Hopkins."
Image source: Chacruna Institute
