[Acceptance of psilocybin-assisted therapy in German-speaking countries].
Nina Hartter, Marvin Däumichen, Christopher Schmidt, Max Wolff, Gerhard Gründer, Henrik Jungaberle
Der Nervenarzt February 12, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s00115-024-01792-5 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAn online survey of 1,456 mental health experts, patients, and the general public found that greater knowledge about psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT), self-assessed knowledge, personal treatment experience, and prior experience with psychedelics predicted more positive attitudes toward introducing PAT. Providing information about PAT's potential only increased acceptance when combined with information about its risks. Participants were generally optimistic about implementing PAT. The link between knowledge and acceptance was confirmed, suggesting that balanced education and reporting on PAT can foster higher acceptance.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,456 |
| Population | Mental health experts, patients, and the general population |
| Topics | Psilocybin Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | Magic mushroom research Acceptance Augmented psychotherapy Psilocybin-assisted therapy |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Higher knowledge about psilocybin-assisted therapy, along with personal treatment or psychedelic experience, predicted more positive attitudes toward its implementation, and balanced information about risks and benefits increased acceptance. |
Abstract
Clinical studies with psilocybin in combination with psychotherapy show promising results for the treatment of various mental disorders; however, there still exists a lack of knowledge, rejection and prejudice towards this new form of therapy among doctors, psychotherapists and patients. The aim of this study was to gain a representative impression, as far as possible, of the level of information and attitudes towards the implementation of psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) among mental health experts, patients and the general population. An online survey was used to collect information on the attitudes and knowledge of 1456 participants and to test the effect of a brief intervention. Results were determined using analyses of variance and regression models. Regression analyses showed that a higher knowledge score and self-assessed level of knowledge, own treatment experience and also own experience with psychedelics predicted more positive attitudes towards the introduction of PAT, F(8, 1447) = 154.646, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.39. Providing information about the potential of PAT only led to higher acceptance when combined with information about its risks. The results indicate that participants are optimistic about the implementation of PAT. The relationship between knowledge and acceptance was confirmed. The fact that receiving balanced information leads to higher acceptance should be taken into account when educating and reporting on PAT.