Exploring the Credibility of Psilocybin-assisted Therapy and Cognitive-behavioral Therapy for Depression
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs – January 03, 2022
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Potential clients view psilocybin-assisted therapy with caution, rating its credibility lower than cognitive behavioral therapy. Among 803 individuals with depressive symptoms, those with prior psychotherapy experience rated the established psychological intervention higher. Men and lifetime hallucinogen users, familiar with psychedelics and drug studies, viewed psilocybin—a chemical synthesis and alkaloid influencing neurotransmitter receptor influence on behavior—more favorably. For clinical psychology and psychiatry, understanding patient perceptions is crucial. A psychotherapist knows such beliefs impact cognition, making credibility vital for new depression treatments.
Abstract
Depression treatments succeed with many but leave others unimproved, and they can generate concerns about side effects, time, and cost. Psilocybin has generated media attention and empirical support for antidepressant effects, but lay impressions of its effectiveness are unclear. Although perceptions of treatment credibility contribute to outcome, beliefs about the credibility of psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) among potential patients remain uninvestigated, especially relative to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), a common, empirically-validated approach. The present study examined credibility ratings for CBT and PAT among individuals reporting depressive symptoms. Participants (N = 803) from Amazon's MTurk platform reported demographics, depressive symptoms, and psychotherapy experience, then read data-based vignettes describing each therapy and rated their credibility. Individuals rated CBT as more credible than PAT. Those with therapy experience rated CBT as more credible than those without. Men and lifetime hallucinogen users rated PAT more credible than women and non-users, but few other predictors accounted for much variance in credibility. Results suggest that potential clients appear cautious about PAT. As continued work examines the effectiveness of psychedelic-assisted interventions, researchers and clinicians must consider patients' beliefs about treatments as potential predictors of outcomes. Additionally, the paradigm used here might have potential for examining credibility of many interventions.