Trial of psilocybin does not show major difference from antidepressant
The Brown University Psychopharmacology Update July 5, 2021 DOI: 10.1002/pu.30751 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA 6-week clinical trial compared the psychedelic psilocybin with the antidepressant escitalopram in patients with moderate to severe depression and found no significant difference in antidepressant effects between the two treatments. Some secondary outcome measures favored psilocybin, but those analyses were not adjusted for multiple comparisons. The findings suggest that psilocybin did not demonstrate superior antidepressant efficacy over escitalopram in this patient population.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with moderate to severe depression |
| Interventions | Psilocybin Escitalopram |
| Duration | 6-week intervention |
| Topics | Anxiety Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Antidepressant Escitalopram Significant difference Depression economics |
| Key finding | Psilocybin did not show a significant difference in antidepressant effects compared with escitalopram over 6 weeks. |
Abstract
A 6‐week study comparing the psychedelic psilocybin with the antidepressant escitalopram found no significant difference in antidepressant effects in patients with moderate to severe depression. Some secondary outcome measures favored psilocybin, but those analyses were not adjusted for multiple comparisons. Study results were published in the April 15, 2021 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine .