Medical Students' Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Psilocybin: Does Terminology and Personal Experience with Psychedelics Matter?

Background: Psilocybin and psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) have gained renewed interest due to recent findings that PAT can enhance therapeutic outcomes. In 2019, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved breakthrough therapy status to psilocybin for the treatment of depression, but PAT has yet to be approved as a therapeutic treatment for mental health disorders. Should the FDA approve PAT, medical students will serve as gatekeepers to PAT.

Methods: Medical students ( n = 295) were surveyed and randomized to two terminology conditions (i.e., “psilocybin” or “magic mushrooms, MMs”) assessing their attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs.

Results: Regardless of the terminology utilized, medical students held overall positive attitudes but their attitudes were significantly more positive when the term “psilocybin” was used. Furthermore, experience with psychedelics was associated with significantly more positive attitudes, beliefs, and higher self-rated knowledge. Finally, attitudes and beliefs were significant predictors of medical students' willingness to recommend PAT, if FDA approved, after controlling for covariates (e.g., personal experience with psychedelics).

Conclusions: Despite some limitations, based on this study, using the term “psilocybin” might be preferable over “MMs” in a research or educational context. Although personal experience positively affects opinions toward psychedelics, beliefs and attitudes seem to be more relevant when it comes to actual medical advice.