Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 30 November 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Psychopharmacology
- Vol. 30 (12), 1181-1197
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881116675513
Abstract
Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin may decrease depression and anxiety in cancer patients. The effects of psilocybin were studied in 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. This randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial investigated the effects of a very low (placebo-like) dose (1 or 3 mg/70 kg) vs. a high dose (22 or 30 mg/70 kg) of psilocybin administered in counterbalanced sequence with 5 weeks between sessions and a 6-month follow-up. Instructions to participants and staff minimized expectancy effects. Participants, staff, and community observers rated participant moods, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the study. High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety. Participants attributed improvements in attitudes about life/self, mood, relationships, and spirituality to the high-dose experience, with >80% endorsing moderately or greater increased well-being/life satisfaction. Community observer ratings showed corresponding changes. Mystical-type psilocybin experience on session day mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on therapeutic outcomes. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00465595Keywords
This publication has 48 references indexed in Scilit:
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybinProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012
- Psilocybin dose-dependently causes delayed, transient headaches in healthy volunteersDrug and Alcohol Dependence, 2011
- Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effectsPsychopharmacology, 2011
- Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder in oncological, haematological, and palliative-care settings: a meta-analysis of 94 interview-based studiesThe Lancet Oncology, 2011
- Depression and cancer mortality: a meta-analysisPsychological Medicine, 2010
- Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months laterJournal of Psychopharmacology, 2008
- Human hallucinogen research: guidelines for safetyJournal of Psychopharmacology, 2008
- The Standardized Psychometric Assessment of Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) in HumansPharmacopsychiatry, 1998
- Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies.Health Psychology, 1985
- The Hospital Anxiety and Depression ScaleActa Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 1983