An experimental treatment that combines psilocybin with intensive psychotherapy has shown encouraging early results for military veterans living with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a pilot study published in Communications Medicine.
The study was the first clinical trial of its kind in the United States involving veterans whose PTSD had not improved after standard treatments.
PTSD can develop after frightening or life-threatening experiences and may cause nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, anger, poor sleep, and constant feelings of danger.
Many veterans improve with counselling or medicines, but a significant number continue to struggle despite years of treatment, creating an urgent need for new approaches.
Researchers from The Ohio State University enrolled 12 veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD in an 11-week program.
Participants completed eight hours of preparation therapy before receiving two supervised doses of synthetic psilocybin, followed by several more hours of integration therapy to help process their experiences.
The results exceeded expectations. One month after treatment, nine of the 12 participants, or 75%, no longer met the clinical definition of PTSD. Overall PTSD symptom scores dropped by an average of 27.5 points, suggesting substantial improvement in daily functioning.
The treatment also appeared to be safe within the carefully controlled clinical setting. No serious adverse events occurred, suicidal thoughts did not increase, and the most common side effect was a mild headache after taking psilocybin.
The researchers believe the psychotherapy played a major role alongside the medicine. PTSD symptoms had already started improving during the preparation sessions before psilocybin was given, but the largest improvements occurred after the drug-assisted therapy and the follow-up counselling.
One veteran who participated said years of medications and counselling had provided little relief before joining the study. He described feeling calmer, rebuilding relationships with his family, and learning healthier ways to respond to difficult memories after treatment.
The team plans to continue monitoring participants for six months and hopes to study biological changes, sleep, and substance use. They are also seeking funding for a larger randomized controlled trial that can determine whether the treatment truly works better than existing approaches.
If you care about mental health, please read studies that vegetarian diet may increase your depression risk, and Vitamin D could help reduce depression symptoms.
For more health information, please see recent studies about why pizza is a very addictive food, and MIND diet could improve cognitive health in older people.
Source: The Ohio State University.
