Psychoactive substances in psychotherapy - A vision for the future? – A systematic review on Psilocybin
July 6, 2023 Jenny Tetem, Tamara Fischmann, Tim Julian Möller preprint
A literature review on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for mental illnesses examined peer-reviewed studies from 2017 to 2022. Nine studies covered tobacco addiction, anxiety and depression related to life-threatening cancer, and treatment-resistant depression. Rapid clinical improvement of various symptoms was observed, with the strongest evidence for treating tobacco addiction and anxiety and depression tied to life-threatening illnesses. No serious adverse events were reported. However, current studies have limitations, including small sample sizes, difficulties with blinding, and a non-representative treatment population. The results are not representative but provide indications of effective treatment and serve as a starting point for further studies.