Will psilocybin lose its magic in the clinical setting?
Caroline Hayes, Mourad Wahba, Stuart Watson
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology 2022 DOI: 10.1177/20451253221090822 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Narrative review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Mainstream Psychotherapist Hallucinogen |
| Citations | 17 |
| Key findings | Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy presents unique challenges, including patient suggestibility and media-inflated expectations, that may hinder its path to becoming a licensed medication. |
Abstract
Psilocybin as a novel treatment for depression is garnering a lot of attention from both the mainstream media and the academic community. Although phase 3 trials are only just beginning, we feel that it is important for clinicians to consider what psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy might look like in the clinical setting. In this narrative review article we have considered the difficulties that may arise as psilocybin emerges from the research setting, which may hamper its progress towards becoming a licenced medication. Psilocybin has its own unique challenges: the expectation patients come to dosing with having read overwhelmingly positive media; patient suggestibility under the influence of psilocybin and requirement for specialised therapists to name a few. We have also made some recommendations for measures that should be taken in both the phase 3 trials and with clinicians to try and minimise some of the issues raised. In doing so our hope is that psilocybin will continue towards becoming a licenced medication that suitable patients are able to access with relative ease. Practicing psychiatrists need to have an awareness of the potential pitfalls of psilocybin as they will be responsible for prescribing it in the future.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on psilocybin, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| The pharmacology of psilocybin | 2002 | Review | |
| Serotonin research: contributions to understanding psychoses | 2008 | Review | |
| Psychedelics, Meditation, and Self-Consciousness | 2018 | Review | |
| The abuse potential of medical psilocybin according to the 8 factors of the Controlled Substances Act | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- Seeking the Psilocybiome: Psychedelics meet the microbiota-gut-brain axis. International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP 2023
- Is the Requirement for First-Person Experience of Psychedelic Drugs a Justified Component of a Psychedelic Therapist's Training? Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics March 2, 2023
- Psilocybin for Depression: From Credibility to Feasibility, What’s Missing? Pharmaceuticals December 31, 2022
- [Psychedelic and dissociative agents in psychiatry: challenges in the treatment]. Der Nervenarzt September 1, 2024
- Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy: A scoping review of participants’ and facilitators’ experiences in qualitative studies Research, Society and Development September 24, 2023
and 9 more in the library
Cites 43
- Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial Journal of Psychopharmacology November 30, 2016
- Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression New England Journal of Medicine April 14, 2021
- Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder JAMA Psychiatry November 4, 2020
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 23, 2012
- Human hallucinogen research: guidelines for safety. Journal of Psychopharmacology July 1, 2008
and 38 more in the library