How a Single Dose of a Psychedelic Drug Can Help People with Cancer Ease Depression, Anxiety

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Researchers say a single dose of psilocybin helped ease fears and depression for years in people treated for cancer. Getty Images

• Researchers report a single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” can help people receiving cancer treatment.
• The researchers said the psychedelic drug helped a majority of study participants for more than 4 years to ease depression and anxiety.
• Experts say the fear associated with cancer treatment can cause a number of health issues, including loss of sleep.

A one-time dose of a psychedelic medication could lead to substantial improvements in distress, depression, and anxiety in people receiving cancer treatment.

Researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine said in a study published this week that they found a single dose of the drug psilocybin combined with psychotherapy produced immediate improvements in anxiety and depression in people with cancer.

Participants in the study who took the drug showed decreases in cancer-related feelings of hopelessness and demoralization, the researchers reported.

Between 60 and 80 percent of participants were still experiencing antidepressant benefits more than 4 years after taking a single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms.”

“It is nearly unprecedented in psychiatry that a medication taken one time would potentially lead to enduring outcomes years later. Traditional psychotropic medications depend on the persistent presence of the medication in the body. Psychedelics like psilocybin appear to initiate a deeply meaningful and powerful psychological process,” Gabrielle Agin-Liebes, lead investigator of the study and a PhD candidate at Palo Alto University in California, told Healthline.

The study authors note that participants in the study “overwhelmingly (71 percent to 100 percent) attributed positive life changes to the psilocybin-assisted therapy experience and rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives.”

Agin-Liebes says the findings are good news for people with cancer, and in particular those with cancers that have a high rate of recurrence.

“This could help patients face this possibility of recurrence with more confidence and equipoise. It may also help those struggling with more terminal diagnoses face that process with dignity and enhanced spiritual and psychological well-being,” she said.