Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy

Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder

Davis AK, Barrett FS, May DG, et al. · JAMA Psychiatry, 2021

This Johns Hopkins randomized clinical trial asked whether psilocybin-assisted therapy could help adults with major depressive disorder who were not taking antidepressants. Twenty-seven participants were randomized to start treatment right away or after an eight-week wait, and 24 completed it. Treatment was two psilocybin sessions, a few weeks apart, within about 11 hours of supportive psychotherapy. In this study, depression scores in the immediate group dropped substantially compared with the waiting group at both one and four weeks after treatment, and effect sizes were large. An honest limitation: the comparison group was a waiting list rather than a placebo, the sample was small, and follow-up in the main comparison was short. Psilocybin remains a Schedule I substance under US federal law, and regulated access currently exists only through state programs in Oregon and Colorado; it is not available in New Jersey.

Our summaries describe what each study found. They are not medical advice, and the practices at Halcyon are not a treatment for any condition.