UK Trial Finds 25-mg Psilocybin Cuts Depression Scores by 10.4 Points in 60 Patients
Updated
Updated · Nature.com · Aug 6
UK Trial Finds 25-mg Psilocybin Cuts Depression Scores by 10.4 Points in 60 Patients
3 articles · Updated · Nature.com · Aug 6
Summary
A 60-patient NHS randomized trial found a single 25-mg psilocybin dose with psychological support beat placebo in treatment-resistant depression, with MADRS scores 10.41 points lower at week 3 and benefits sustained at week 6.
Response and remission rates drove that gap: at week 3, 43% of psilocybin patients responded and 40% remitted, versus 3% for both measures in the placebo arm; by week 6, response in the psilocybin group rose to 50%.
Feasibility was strong in the England study, with 60 of 75 screened participants randomized, all attending dosing and 59 of 60 completing depression assessments through follow-up.
Safety was broadly manageable, with 287 nonserious adverse events recorded—164 in the psilocybin arm and 123 in placebo—while the only possibly treatment-related serious adverse event occurred in the placebo group.
Researchers said larger and longer trials are still needed because blinding largely failed—100% of queried psilocybin recipients and 70% on placebo correctly guessed their allocation.
Could the secret to magic mushrooms treating depression lie more in the intensive therapy and calm setting than the drug itself?
With remission rates hitting forty percent, what is stopping this controversial psychedelic from replacing traditional antidepressants in routine medical care?
If patients can easily guess they took a psychedelic, are we measuring a medical breakthrough or just the power of expectation?