Magic-mushroom drug can treat severe depression, trial suggests
Getty ImagesA drug based on a compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms can improve the symptoms of severe depression for up to 12 weeks, a trial shows.
A 25mg tablet of psilocybin puts patients in a dreamlike state, making psychological therapy more likely to succeed.
But the short-term side-effects could be frightening and must always be on hand, the researchers said.
Experts say larger studies with a much longer follow-up are still needed.
An estimated 100 million people worldwide have serious clinical depression that does not respond to any available treatments - 30% attempt suicide.
Scientists have been studying the effects of psilocybin on mental-health disorders for years.
Recent studies have been promising but too short to assess lasting effects.
In this latest trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1mg, 10mg and 25mg doses were tested on a total of 233 people from 10 countries in Europe and North America, with 25mg giving the best results.
'Waking dream'
Most had been severely depressed for more than a year and were aged around 40, the researchers, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said.
After one 25mg dose of Comp360 psilocybin, alongside psychotherapy:
- one in three were no longer diagnosed as depressed at three weeks
- one in five saw a significant improvement at 12 weeks
Study author and consultant psychiatrist Dr James Rucker said the drug was thought to have "a direct action on the brain, putting it into a more flexible state and providing an window of opportunity for therapy".
The patients, lying on a bed in a calm room, experienced a psychedelic "trip" - which one described as "a waking dream" - for six to eight hours.
"It can be very positive but it can also be negative," Dr Rucker told BBC News.
"Difficult memories from the past can come up, for example, at the same time as feeling a reconnection with yourself and your feelings."
A therapist was on hand to provide .
Safety concern
The following day and a week later, the patients were given psychological to talk through their experience.
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