Yes. In a JAMA study of 100 adults with alcohol use disorder, adding two doses of psilocybin to 12 weeks of psychotherapy doubled the share who quit drinking. It was 48% versus 24% with a diphenhydramine placebo. Cravings dropped too.
Summary: Heavy drinking, binge drinking, and AUD are major social and health problems. Many people struggle to say no to alcohol, even when they know heavy drinking hurts them. Talk therapy is a safe way to treat the problem that works. It helps rewire the brain and change thinking patterns. Now a new study shows that psilocybin plus talk therapy may work far better. After this treatment, people were almost twice as likely to stop drinking. They also reported a significant drop in cravings.
Alcohol is widely used in the US. About 80% of all adults drink now and then, and some drink often. But some people start to drink too much, which harms their health. According to the CDC, binge drinking is four or more drinks at one time. Heavy drinking means eight or more drinks. Reckless drinking is a big problem in the US. It is quite common in young adults. It is one of the leading causes of death in young adults. AUD causes 140,000 deaths each year. It also causes serious disability and costs a great deal of money.
Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug from magic mushrooms. People use it widely for its trippy effect. It causes hallucinations. Yes, its medical use is still a matter of debate. It is still a drug people misuse, and the FDA does not allow its clinical use. But the FDA does allow it in clinical studies.
Researchers have tested psychedelics on mental health problems for more than half a century. Only recently have they learned how to use these drugs safely and well. They learned these drugs belong only under medical care and only for a short time. They work at lower doses. They work better when paired with talk therapy. With talk therapy, they help rewire the brain fast. Most drugs take a long time to start working, and their effect wears off fast. Psychedelics are different. They work fast, and their relief may last a long time because the brain rewires. They work well for mood disorders like depression. Now a new study confirms they can also work well for substance use disorders like AUD.
A new study in the journal JAMA compared psilocybin with diphenhydramine. Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine that makes people sleepy and is known to lower cravings. The study found that with talk therapy, psilocybin works much better, and its effect lasts. Researchers say the lasting effect of psilocybin amazed them. The study was small, with only 100 people. But the findings were quite surprising.
They found that psilocybin worked almost twice as well as diphenhydramine. The researchers split people into two equal groups. Both groups got 12 talk therapy sessions over 12 weeks. One group also got two doses of psilocybin. The other got diphenhydramine as a placebo. The team followed the patients for six months. Just two doses of psilocybin made talk therapy work much better. After six months, about 10% still drank heavily. In the diphenhydramine group, that number was almost 25%. Most striking, twice as many people in the psilocybin group quit drinking altogether, 48% vs. 24%. They said their cravings for alcohol dropped after psilocybin. Those who quit said they no longer saw themselves as alcoholics.
The researchers then went further. They offered a third dose of psilocybin at the end of the six-month study. After this dose, many more people reported benefits. The researchers say their findings are very encouraging and beat their hopes. Psilocybin also caused no side effects, yet its benefit lasted a long time.
The researchers now plan a bigger study. It will run 3 years with more than 200 people. They also plan to include people from many backgrounds. Even so, they think psilocybin looks like a real breakthrough in treating AUD.
Related reading: Gene Editing for Binge Drinking · Alcohol-Related Deaths Increasing · Being Sober Is the New High · Alcohol Addiction Treatment in St. Louis