Studies whose primary subject is both Psilocybin and PTSD, with an evidence synthesis read across the most-cited and most recent of them.
Synthesized from 25 studies in the library · AI-generated, grounded in the abstracts below
Found by searching the library for Psilocybin, magic mushrooms, psilocin, psychedelic mushrooms, PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, then ranked by relevance.
The research on psilocybin specifically for PTSD is early-stage: most human evidence comes from small, open-label pilot trials and qualitative work, while the strongest controlled evidence in PTSD belongs to MDMA, not psilocybin. One open-label pilot in 12 veterans with severe treatment-resistant PTSD reported large clinician-rated symptom reductions (mean 27.5 points, d=2.30) with no serious adverse events, and a qualitative study described indirect trauma engagement. However, systematic reviews consistently rate psilocybin evidence as preliminary, and reviewers note inadequate blinding, expectancy effects, small samples, and lack of long-term follow-up.
Direction is which way each study's own result points, not our rating of the study.
| Study | Design | Sample size | Direction | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theorizing that Psychedelic Assisted Therapy May Play a Role in the Treatment of Trauma-Induced Personality Disorders. 2024 | theoretical or philosophical paper | Supports | Argues that psychedelic-assisted therapy may be a pathway for treating both borderline personality disorder and PTSD, proposing BPD be reframed as traumatic personality stress disorder. | |
| Novel psychopharmacological therapies for psychiatric disorders: psilocybin and MDMA. 2016 | review | Supports | Reports that psilocybin is being tested for alcoholism, smoking cessation, and cancer-related anxiety, while MDMA shows encouraging results for refractory PTSD, with both used as adjuncts to psychotherapy. | |
| Registered clinical studies investigating psychedelic drugs for psychiatric disorders. 2021 | review | 70 | Supports | Found 70 registered trials, with most studying MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD and major depressive disorder, but only 21 had published results. |
| The Psychedelic Future of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment 2024 | comprehensive review | Supports | Reports that initial clinical trials demonstrate potential value of psychedelic-assisted therapy for PTSD and other psychiatric disorders, while standard-of-care therapies leave many patients symptomatic. | |
| Diverse therapeutic developments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indicate common mechanisms of memory modulation. 2022 | review | Supports | Reports early evidence for beneficial effects of psychedelics including psilocybin in combination with psychotherapy for PTSD, via memory reconsolidation mechanisms, but states large-scale clinical trials are needed. | |
| Efficacy of Psychoactive Drugs for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review of MDMA, Ketamine, LSD and Psilocybin 2020 | systematic review | 9 | Unclear | Of nine included trials (five ketamine, four MDMA), no psilocybin or LSD trials met inclusion criteria; MDMA plus psychotherapy had moderate-quality evidence and ketamine low to very low. |
| Australia to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD and depression in world first 2023 | news feature | Opposes | Reports that Australia's decision to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD and depression was dogged by suggestions it was rushed. | |
| Psilocybin Facilitates Fear Extinction: Importance of Dose, Context, and Serotonin Receptors 2024 | experimental study | Supports | Psilocybin enhanced fear extinction, extinction retention, and suppressed fear renewal in mice, dependent on dose, timing, and 5-HT2A/5-HT1A receptors. | |
| Psilocybe cubensis extract potently prevents fear memory recall and freezing behavior in short- but not long-term in a rat model of posttraumatic stress disorder. 2024 | preclinical study | Mixed | Psilocybe cubensis extract at 25 mg/kg alleviated PTSD-like freezing in rats short-term but not long-term, while effects on pain threshold and anxiety persisted. | |
| Study protocol of an open-label proof-of-concept trial examining the safety and clinical efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD 2023 | open-label pilot study protocol | 15 | Unclear | Describes a protocol to examine safety and efficacy of two psilocybin sessions (15 mg and 25 mg) with psychotherapy in veterans with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD. |
| Is it now time to prepare psychiatry for a psychedelic future? 2024 | review | Unclear | Explores opportunities and challenges for psychiatry after Australia rescheduled psilocybin and MDMA as treatments for treatment-resistant depression and PTSD respectively. | |
| Australia’s approval of MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD and depression is premature, say critics 2023 | news report | Opposes | Reports that Australia's approval of MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD and depression was called premature by critics, with conditions requiring authorized psychiatrists, ethics approval per patient, and use with psychotherapy. | |
| Psychoactive Drugs in the Management of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Promising New Horizon 2022 | review | Supports | Reports that MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin target and decrease fear and anxiety pathways in the brain, offering potential benefit for refractory or treatment-resistant PTSD. | |
| A Systematic Review of the Neurocognitive Effects of Psychedelics in Healthy Populations: Implications for Depressive Disorders and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 2024 | systematic review | 43 | Mixed | Most studies in healthy subjects reported detrimental or neutral effects on cold cognition during peak psychedelic effects, with a few exceptions; only one article addressed MDMA's cognitive effects in PTSD subjects. |
| Mechanisms of psilocybin on the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder 2024 | review | Supports | Argues that psilocybin may be an underexplored treatment option for PTSD based on its mechanism of action, though further research is required. | |
| [The use of psychedelics in psychiatry]. 2026 | review | Mixed | Argues that psilocybin produces consistent improvements in major depressive disorder and that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has the largest phase 3 dataset in PTSD but was declined FDA approval in 2024, while certainty of evidence remains low or very low for several indications. | |
| Safety, feasibility, and preliminary clinical outcomes of psilocybin-assisted therapy for veterans with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD: an open-label pilot clinical trial. 2026 | open-label pilot trial | 12 | Supports | Psilocybin-assisted therapy was safe and well-tolerated with no serious adverse events or increased suicidal ideation; clinician-rated PTSD symptoms decreased by a mean of 27.5 points (d=2.30, p<0.001) from baseline to one-month follow-up, with 75% achieving treatment response and remission. |
| Silence is golden: Documenting the speech production of participants and support providers in psilocybin administration sessions for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder 2026 | randomized controlled trial | 22 | Unclear | Analyzed speech during 25 mg COMP360 psilocybin sessions, finding 78% of time was silence and support was minimally enacted yet experientially salient. |
| Psychedelic Therapies in the Management of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 2026 | review | Supports | Reports that psychedelics induce neuroplasticity and augment fear extinction, that MDMA-assisted therapy showed 67% of participants no longer meeting PTSD criteria at endpoint, and that psilocybin effectively treats common comorbidities like anxiety and treatment-resistant depression. | |
| Efficacy and risks of psychedelics in treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review 2026 | systematic review | Unclear | Concludes MDMA and IV ketamine currently have the greatest support for efficacy in PTSD, and that randomized controlled studies of psilocybin and LSD are needed to assess their utility. | |
| SSRIs, Psilocybin, MDMA, and Disease Modeling: Strategies to Advance PTSD Treatment 2026 | position paper | Unclear | Argues that SSRIs, psilocybin, and MDMA act on serotonergic circuits and are used or proposed for PTSD, but their mechanisms at molecular, cellular, and circuit levels remain poorly understood. | |
| A Systematic Review of the efficacy, safety, and Tolerability of Psychedelics in the Treatment of post-traumatic Stress Disorder 2025 | systematic review | 42 | Mixed | Found ketamine and MDMA have the most developed evidence for PTSD, while data for ayahuasca, DMT, LSD, ibogaine, and psilocybin were preliminary but suggested potential benefits; safety was overall well tolerated. |
| Investigational psilocybin treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder: a qualitative study of participant experience, trauma engagement, and differences from standard treatment. 2025 | qualitative study nested within an open-label phase 2 trial | 21 | Supports | Participants described indirect engagement with trauma-related material through affective, somatic, and self-transcendent experiences with COMP360 psilocybin, contrasting with standard treatments requiring direct confrontation with trauma memories. |
| Psychedelics as a Therapeutic Opportunity or Threat: A Narrative Review. 2025 | review | Supports | Reports that psilocybin and MDMA show therapeutic potential for depression, alcohol use disorders, and PTSD, but require careful patient selection and further research due to risks of adverse reactions and drug interactions. | |
| Comparative Efficacy of Psilocybin and MDMA in PTSD Treatment: A Systematic Review of Long-Term Outcomes 2025 | review | Unclear | Compares psilocybin and MDMA effectiveness in treating PTSD, noting existing treatments have shown marginal efficacy. |
This synthesis reads the 15 most-cited and 10 most recent studies whose primary subject is Psilocybin for PTSD, up to 25 in all. The most-cited set anchors the established evidence, and the recent set surfaces work that is too new to have gathered citations yet.
A study qualifies only when Psilocybin for PTSD or a known alias appears in its title or keywords, so broad reviews that mention it only in passing are left out. Each study is read from its abstract, strongest evidence first, and the summary reports the direction of the results along with any conflicts and gaps.
The full method, including what a person does and does not review, is on the methods page.
46 articles · 20 from the last two years · 338 participants across 12 studies reporting sample size
46 studies whose primary subject is psilocybin for PTSD since 2016
| Year | Studies |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2018 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 5 |
| 2023 | 5 |
| 2024 | 10 |
| 2025 | 13 |
| 2026 | 6 |
Orvosi hetilap September 13, 2026 Szabolcs Kéri
Over the past five years, the literature on the psychiatric use of psychedelic and related treatments has expanded substantially. Several randomized controlled trials and pooled analyses have been conducted in mood disorders, treatment-resistant depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Trial methodology, however, remains a fundamental source of uncertainty, and despite the popularity of...
Communications medicine July 30, 2026 Stacey B. Armstrong, Adam W. Levin, Nathan D. Sepeda et al.
Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) shows promise for treating PTSD in adults but hasn't been studied in U.S. military Veterans, who face higher symptom severity and suicide risk. This open-label pilot trial evaluated the safety and feasibility of PAT in Veterans with severe, treatment-resistant PTSD. The clinical trial was pre-registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05554094). The eligibility...
Journal of Education Health and Sport July 16, 2026 Jakub Bajer, Aleksandra Włodarczyk, Hubert Kulawinek et al.
Background. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an important public health challenge typically treated with trauma-focused psychotherapy and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). However, high rates of residual symptoms associated with these standard treatments have led to a renewed interest in psychedelic-assisted therapies. Aim. This review attempts to examine emerging...
Journal of Psychopharmacology July 16, 2026 Robert F. Dougherty, Nadav Liam Modlin, Niall M. Mcgowan et al.
Background: When administered alongside monitoring and support, psilocybin has shown promise in the treatment of multiple psychiatric conditions. However, the contribution and nature of participant support in the context of psychedelic trials are much debated. Aims: We sought to further illustrate the structure and format of the monitoring and support used in Compass Pathfinder Ltd (Compass)...
American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy March 4, 2026 Jennifer E. Thomas, Anna Dellarole, Robin J Jacobs
MDMA and ketamine IV currently have the greatest support in the literature for efficacy in PTSD. Studies suggest treatment with these agents under supervision may lead to improvements in PTSD symptoms, with the medications being generally well tolerated. However, caution should be used when interpreting study results due to limitations such as treatment expectancy effect and the potential for...
February 24, 2026 Momoko Ishii, Mark Zervas
S elective S erotonin R euptake I nhibitors (SSRIs) and two psychedelics, Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), and MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) act on serotonergic-related neural circuits and function as serotonin modulators. All three molecules are either currently used or proposed as novel therapeutic modalities to treat P ost- T raumatic S tress D isorder (PTSD)....
Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry December 26, 2025 Manasicha P. Wongpaiboon, Jackson L. Shelton, Eric Delgado Rendon et al.
Purpose A systematic review was conducted to synthesize the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of psychedelics including ketamine, MDMA, ayahuasca, LSD, DMT, ibogaine, and psilocybin in the treatment of PTSD. Recent Findings Among 5,155 studies identified, 42 studies met criteria and were included in our systematic review. Ketamine consistently produced rapid symptom improvement that attenuated...
EClinicalMedicine December 1, 2025 Nadav Liam Modlin, Victoria Williamson, Guy M. Goodwin et al. 2 citations
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition leading to significant personal and societal burden. Standard treatments frequently demonstrate limited efficacy, leading to persistent symptoms and high dropout rates. Psilocybin has shown promise in treating depression, a condition that is often comorbid with PTSD. We aimed to explore participant experiences of psilocybin...
Cureus December 1, 2025 Paweł Liszka, Agata Ogórek, Klaudia M Olejnik-Chlewicka et al.
Classic psychedelics and related substances, such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), have again become a focus of interest in psychiatry as potential therapeutic tools. The aim of this paper is to review current data on their mechanisms of action, clinical applications in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, addictions and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as to...
Berkeley Scientific Journal November 13, 2025 Presley Aspen
Highly stressful events can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-a significant public health concern which existing treatments (e.g., psychotherapy and traditional medications) have shown marginal efficacy for.Psychedelics-alternatively called hallucinogens-are psychoactive substances that cause perception, mood, and cognitive changes.Because they are known for their impact on neuron...
Not yet recruiting Phase 2 12 participants ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre
Not yet recruiting Phase 2 76 participants University of Calgary
Recruiting Phase 2/3 300 participants COMPASS Pathways
Not yet recruiting Phase 2 150 participants University of New Mexico
Recruiting Phase 2 30 participants Anthony P King