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Psilocybin Improves Recovery Rate Among AUD Patients
When combined with psychotherapy, 2 doses of psilocybin reduced drinking by an average of 83% among heavy drinkers, according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
While previous research has identified psilocybin as a treatment for anxiety and depression in people with severe forms of cancer, the NYU Grossman School study is the first placebo-controlled trial to explore psilocybin as a treatment for excessive alcohol consumption, according to its authors.
The research involved 93 men and women with alcohol dependence. Study participants were divided into groups that received either 2 doses of psilocybin or an antihistamine placebo. All patients received 12 psychotherapy sessions.
Within an 8-month period after initiating treatment, drinking among the psilocybin group participants decreased by an average of 83%, and almost half (48%) stopped drinking entirely.
The placebo group’s alcohol consumption declined by an average of 51%, with 24% quitting completely.
"Our findings strongly suggest that psilocybin therapy is a promising means of treating alcohol use disorder, a complex disease that has proven notoriously difficult to manage," study senior author and psychiatrist Michael Bogenschutz, MD, director of the NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine, said in a news release.
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