The Use of Psilocybin in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders with Attention to Relative Safety Profile: A Systematic Review
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs – February 28, 2022
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
The hallucinogen psilocybin, a potent alkaloid, shows remarkable promise in psychiatry. A review of 76 articles highlights its efficacy in significantly reducing anxiety and depression symptoms, a major burden on population health. This psychedelic medicine, alongside MDMA, causes no reported adverse effects or deaths, offering a compelling alternative in drug studies for psychological well-being. Its re-emergence signals a "Psychedelic Renaissance," broadening the scope of complementary medicine. The potential for such compounds, naturally derived, to alleviate depression is a significant development for the population.
Abstract
There has been a reemergence of research into the use of substances such as LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. This increase in consideration toward the medicinal use of these compounds has been termed the "Psychedelic Renaissance." This article specifically explores the background of psilocybin, a psychoactive compound that is naturally derived from certain species of fungi. Pubmed was searched by one doctoral-level researcher using specific Boolean operator terms. The results were filtered by title and abstract and 76 articles were screened and analyzed in full detail. Oral psilocybin is showing itself to be clinically efficacious by producing statistically significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms over time versus control in multiple clinical trials. It has also been shown to reduce cigarettes per day and drinks per day in patients with substance use disorders. Thus far, there have been no significant adverse clinical events from psilocybin and there also have been no verifiable recorded deaths reported. Larger studies need to be performed before the drug can potentially become approved for use in the general population.