Anthony Back of the University of Washington and colleagues from the UK, Canada, and the US conducted a randomized clinical trial and found that psilocybin-based psychotherapy effectively reduced depressive symptoms in frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. From February to December 2022, the study involved 30 physicians, paramedics, and nurses (average age 38 years, equally divided between men and women) who had been providing direct care to incoming COVID-19 patients for over a month. They had no history of mental disorders but had moderate to severe depressive symptoms at enrollment. They were divided into two equal groups: those assigned either 25 milligrams of psilocybin or 100 milligrams of niacin as an active placebo before a psychotherapy session. All participants completed two preparatory sessions and three follow-up sessions. The results were published in JAMA Network Open.
The mean change in MADRS depressive symptom severity from the start of psychotherapy with the drug to day 28 afterward was −21.33 (SD 7.84) points for psilocybin and −9.33 (SD 7.32) points for niacin; a mean difference of −12.00 (95% CI −17.67 to −6.33; p < 0.001). Some reductions in burnout and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were also observed, but they did not reach statistical significance.
