Under Pressure: Stronger depressive symptoms are associated with more positive expectations towards experimental treatments
May 16, 2025 Lukas A. Basedow, Lynn Lottes, Irina Falkenberg et al. 1 citation preprint
In a survey of 404 people, established depression treatments like psychotherapy (98.3% acceptance) were more accepted and preferred over novel interventions such as psilocybin-assisted therapy (47.5% acceptance). Participants expected greater symptom improvement from traditional treatments and associated ketamine and psilocybin with higher risks of worsening and side effects. However, individuals with more severe depressive symptoms showed more favorable expectations toward these novel therapies, an effect not seen for standard treatments. The findings suggest that unfamiliarity and risk concerns drive skepticism about psychedelic-assisted therapies, and that managing patient expectations and improving clinician education could increase acceptance.