Psilocybin appears to ease depression as well as common antidepressants Psilocybin provided as much symptom relief as the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram People given psilocybin also felt greater well-being MONDAY, Sept. 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, appears to ease depression symptoms at least as well as one of the most commonly used , a new clinical trial shows. Patients showed significant improvement in their depressive symptoms after taking either a single dose of psilocybin or a six-week course of the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram ( ), researchers reported Sept.
21 in the journal They also presented the findings at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s annual meeting in Milan. However, patients given psilocybin also reported additional long-term benefits, including a greater sense of meaning in life and better psychological connectedness to others. “Both treatments led to comparable improvements in alleviating symptoms of depression at the six-week mark, such as sadness and negative emotions,” said lead researcher , a doctoral candidate with Imperial College London in the U.
K. “However, this work shows that psilocybin outperformed escitalopram in several measures of well-being, meaning in life, work and social functioning,” Barba said in a journal news release. “These results appeared to be maintained over a six-month follow-up period.
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