Scientists from the University of California at San Diego have conducted a study investigating the therapeutic impact of magic mushrooms in treating anorexia nervosa.
The paper, “Psilocybin therapy for females with anorexia nervosa: a phase 1, open-label feasibility study,” published in Nature Medicine, presents the treatment outcomes for this notoriously resistant-to-treatment disorder.
Ten participants in partial remission from anorexia were given psilocybin therapy. The researchers assessed safety, tolerability, primary outcomes, patient acceptability, and eating disorder-specific psychopathology.
The psilocybin therapy was determined to be safe and well-tolerated. After three months post-dosing, participants reported positive changes, with some showing clinically significant reductions in eating disorder psychopathology.
Some even responded positively to just a single-dose treatment, with no serious adverse events reported.
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is known for excessive preoccupation, fear, and distress about food, weight, restrictive eating, and a distorted body image, becoming one of the deadliest diseases with the highest mortality rates among psychiatric conditions.
AN is also ego-syntonic, meaning the psychopathology of the disease aligns with the individual’s internal value system and self-image, which often makes the patients perceive the condition as acceptable.
This perception causes resistance to intervention and a high treatment dropout rate.
The psilocybin therapy demonstrated improvements in anxiety and cognitive flexibility, potentially disrupting eating disorder-related preoccupations, rigid thinking styles, and entrenched behavioral patterns.
Implications
The study hints at a change in perception as a possible mechanism.
A 2020 study by John Hopkins University found subjective experiences such as empathetic feelings of being connected to everything and a reduced sense of self were linked to a damping of claustrum activity and reduced default mode network connectivity.
The positive perceptions and engagement reported by the participants in the current study suggest that psilocybin therapy may disrupt ego-syntonic behaviors, improving the quality of life for AN patients.
The evaluations indicate significant decreases in weight and shape concerns from baseline to the three-month follow-up, though changes in eating concerns and dietary restraint were not significant.
However, the average changes in body mass index (BMI) were not statistically significant during the study duration, suggesting the need for targeted nutritional rehabilitation, even when improvements in eating disorder psychopathology are observed.
Conclusion
Anorexia nervosa is a hard-to-treat disorder with a high mortality rate and limited effective therapies. Thus, new treatments are urgently needed.
The early indications from this study provide hope, suggesting psilocybin’s potential role in treating AN, adding to a growing body of research highlighting the potential of magic mushrooms in treating various psychiatric conditions.
Nonetheless, further research with larger, well-controlled trials is necessary to confirm psilocybin’s role in treating AN.
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The study was published in Nature Medicine.
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