Fifty-one cancer patients, and six months of relief
What they did
Johns Hopkins gave adults facing life-threatening cancer one high dose of psilocybin and one very low comparison dose in random order, five weeks apart, with supportive monitoring throughout.
What they found
The high dose produced large drops in both clinician-rated and self-rated depression and anxiety. About 80 percent of participants still showed clinically significant improvement at the six month follow-up.
Worth knowing
A very low dose is not an inert placebo, and participants could tell the difference between the two sessions. The population is specific, people confronting mortality, and the results may not transfer to general anxiety.
Griffiths et al. Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2016.
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end of lifePsilocybin rapidly reduced anxiety and depression in cancer patientsend of lifeIn life-threatening illness, anxiety and depression eased and heldlong-termFour and a half years after one sessionThe durability findings here are the ones most often quoted out of context. Read the follow-up periods before you trust a headline about them.
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