1 psychedelic psilocybin dose eases depression for years, study reveals
Half a decade after receiving a psychedelic treatment for depression, two-thirds of patients in a new study remained in remission.
Jane Palmer LIVE SCIENCE, June 18, 2025
DENVER—Psilocybin, the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms, can alleviate depression for at least five years after a single dose, a new study finds.
The research, presented June 18 at the Psychedelic Science 2025 conference in Denver, focused on patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), which is often called clinical depression. The serious mood disorder causes a persistent feeling of sadness and a loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyable. The most common treatments for MDD include talk therapy and medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and both can take a long time to show any benefits.
When early studies hinted at psilocybin's potential as an antidepressant, a team of researchers undertook the first-ever randomized clinical trial to explore the use of the psychedelic for treating severe depression. The trial included 24 patients, half of whom received psilocybin at the very start of the trial and half of whom received the same dose eight weeks later—the "waitlist" group. Each patient also received 11 hours of psychotherapy.
Even in that short time frame, "there was a significant reduction in depression in the immediate-treatment group compared to those on the waitlist," study co-author Alan Davis, director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education at The Ohio State University, told Live Science.
Once all of the patients had completed the four-week study, the psilocybin appeared to be four times more effective than traditional antidepressant medications, based on previous research data. One month after the treatment, 17 patients had relieved symptoms, including 14 who were in full remission from depression. Patients also responded much faster to psilocybin than is typical for conventional antidepressants.
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How ‘Magic Mushrooms’ Could Help Parkinson’s Disease Patients
A UCSF pilot study finds psilocybin therapy surprises, showing meaningful improvements in mood, cognition, and motor symptoms.
By Victoria Colliver, Univ. of California, San Francisco, April 29, 2025
Psilocybin, a natural compound found in certain mushrooms, has shown promise in treating depression and anxiety.
UC San Francisco researchers wanted to know if it could be used to help Parkinson’s patients who often experience debilitating mood dysfunction in addition to their motor symptoms and don’t respond well to antidepressants or other medications.
The results were surprising.
These results raise the exciting possibility that psilocybin may help the brain repair itself.” Joshua Woolley, MD, PhD
Not only did participants tolerate the drug without serious side effects or worsening symptoms, which is what the pilot study was designed to test, they also experienced clinically significant improvements in mood, cognition, and motor function that lasted for weeks after the drug was out of their systems.
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