Psychedelic drug therapy may address mental health concerns in people with cancer and addiction

Psilocybin-assisted therapy could help mental health in both cancer patients and people with alcohol use disorder. For people with cancer, one or two doses of psilocybin paired with psychotherapy were linked to significant reductions in anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts, anger toward others, and psychological distress-related physical symptoms, with improvements reported to last up to six months. The analysis also found no evidence of lasting paranoia, psychosis, or deep fear-like reactions. For alcohol use disorder, psilocybin-assisted therapy was associated with lasting positive personality changes, including reduced impulsivity, less depression, and less vulnerability, along with increased openness to thoughts and emotions. These personality shifts were observed about seven months after the second dose. Researchers caution that participants in the studies were often able to guess whether they received psilocybin or a placebo, and emphasize the need for controlled, medically supervised settings with psychotherapy.