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.
Direct evidence for psilocybin in PTSD is early-stage: a small open-label pilot in veterans with severe treatment-resistant PTSD reported large clinician-rated symptom reductions with good tolerability, and qualitative work describes indirect trauma engagement, but there are no published randomized efficacy results for psilocybin in PTSD. Reviews consistently rate psilocybin's PTSD evidence as preliminary and investigational, with MDMA and ketamine having more developed datasets. Main caveats are small samples, open-label designs, expectancy and blinding problems, and unknown durability.
Direction is which way each study's own result points, not our rating of the study.
| Study | Design | Sample size | Direction | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 clinician-rated PTSD symptoms falling by a mean of 27.5 points from baseline to one-month follow-up and 75% achieving treatment response and remission. |
| 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 planned open-label trial of two psilocybin sessions (15 mg and 25 mg) with psychotherapy, with safety and CAPS-5 outcomes at one month and follow-up to six months. |
| 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 in open-label phase 2 trial | 21 | Supports | Participants described indirect engagement with trauma-related material through affective, somatic, and self-transcendent experiences, contrasting with standard treatments requiring direct confrontation with trauma memories. |
| 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 | RCT (session-process analysis) | 22 | Unclear | During 25 mg COMP360 administration sessions, 78% of time was silence and support was minimally enacted yet experientially salient; no efficacy outcomes are reported. |
| Psilocybin for PTSD with or without Psychotherapy: A Pilot study of safety and efficacy outcomes – The first characterization of nightmare burden in PTSD following psilocybin administration 2026 | open-label controlled pilot trial | 18 | Unclear | Reports the design and dosing schedule (25 mg, optional 35 mg second session) of a nightmare-focused analysis but presents no nightmare-related results. |
| Psilocybin Facilitates Fear Extinction: Importance of Dose, Context, and Serotonin Receptors 2024 | experimental study (rodents) | Supports | Psilocybin enhanced fear extinction, elevated extinction retention, and suppressed fear renewal, with effects dependent on dose, timing, concurrent extinction experience, and 5-HT2A 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 (25 mg/kg) reduced PTSD-like freezing in the short term but not long term, while increasing pain threshold and decreasing anxiety. | |
| 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 | Nine trials met criteria (five ketamine, four MDMA); no psilocybin or LSD trials were identified, and MDMA plus psychotherapy had moderate-quality evidence while ketamine evidence was low to very low. |
| A Systematic Review of the efficacy, safety, and Tolerability of Psychedelics in the Treatment of post-traumatic Stress Disorder 2025 | systematic review | 42 | Mixed | Ketamine and MDMA had the most developed evidence for PTSD, while data for psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT, LSD, and ibogaine were preliminary but suggested potential benefits. |
| Efficacy and risks of psychedelics in treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review 2026 | systematic review | Unclear | MDMA and IV ketamine currently have the greatest support for efficacy in PTSD, and randomized controlled studies of psilocybin and LSD are still needed. | |
| The Psychedelic Future of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment 2024 | comprehensive review | Supports | Initial clinical trials demonstrate potential value of psychedelic-assisted therapy for PTSD, including psilocybin, 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 | Early evidence supports beneficial effects of psychedelics, including psilocybin, particularly with psychotherapy, potentially by reducing barriers to therapy and modulating fear memory, but large-scale trials are needed. | |
| 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 pharmacology and psychoanalytic principles, though further research is required. | |
| Psychoactive Drugs in the Management of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Promising New Horizon 2022 | review | Supports | Describes MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin as targeting fear and anxiety pathways and holding potential for refractory or treatment-resistant PTSD. | |
| Psychedelic Therapies in the Management of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 2026 | review | Supports | Psychedelics induce neuroplasticity and augment fear extinction; MDMA-assisted therapy showed high efficacy, and psilocybin effectively treats common comorbidities such as anxiety and treatment-resistant depression. | |
| [The use of psychedelics in psychiatry]. 2026 | review | Mixed | Argues that psilocybin shows consistent improvements in depression and that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has the largest phase 3 PTSD dataset (though FDA declined approval in 2024), while certainty of evidence remains low or very low and psychedelics should be considered experimental. | |
| Novel psychopharmacological therapies for psychiatric disorders: psilocybin and MDMA. 2016 | review | Mixed | Psilocybin is being tested for alcoholism, smoking cessation, and cancer-related anxiety, while MDMA shows encouraging results for refractory PTSD; both are studied as adjuncts to psychotherapy. | |
| Registered clinical studies investigating psychedelic drugs for psychiatric disorders. 2021 | review of registered trials | 70 | Unclear | As of December 2020, 70 registered trials studied psychedelics for psychiatric disorders, mostly MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD and major depression, with only 21 having published results. |
| 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 few exceptions; only one article addressed cognition in PTSD (MDMA). |
| Theorizing that Psychedelic Assisted Therapy May Play a Role in the Treatment of Trauma-Induced Personality Disorders. 2024 | theoretical paper | Supports | Argues that BPD be reframed as traumatic personality stress disorder and that psychedelic-assisted therapy may be a pathway for treating both BPD and PTSD. | |
| 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 molecular, cellular, and circuit mechanisms remain poorly understood. | |
| Psychedelics as a Therapeutic Opportunity or Threat: A Narrative Review. 2025 | narrative review | Supports | Psilocybin and MDMA show therapeutic potential for depression, alcohol use disorders, and PTSD, but require careful patient selection and further research given risks of adverse reactions and drug interactions. | |
| Is it now time to prepare psychiatry for a psychedelic future? 2024 | review/commentary | 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 | Unclear | Reports that Australia's TGA attached conditions to MDMA and psilocybin use, including authorized psychiatrists, ethics committee approval per patient, and use with psychotherapy. | |
| Australia to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin for PTSD and depression in world first 2023 | news report | Opposes | Reports that Australia's decision to make MDMA and psilocybin available for PTSD and depression was dogged by suggestions that it was rushed. |
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.
48 articles · 20 from the last two years · 249 participants across 12 studies reporting sample size
48 studies whose primary subject is psilocybin for PTSD since 2016
| Year | Studies |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 5 |
| 2023 | 5 |
| 2024 | 10 |
| 2025 | 13 |
| 2026 | 7 |
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)....
2026 Zarmeen Zahid, Brandon Weiss, Sandeep Manel Nayak preprint
This nightmare-focused study was conducted based on data collected in an open-label, controlled treatment pilot trial conducted at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (CPCR) under an approved protocol (IRB00407008; NCT06407635). Participants completed screening, baseline assessment, four preparatory sessions, two psilocybin dosing sessions, seven post-session...
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...
Not yet recruiting Phase 2 150 participants University of New Mexico
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
Recruiting Phase 2 30 participants Anthony P King