Twice a month, our friends from Blossom will update you on the latest in psychedelic research. Enjoy an in-depth look at major studies and updates on recent psychedelic publications.
Psilocybin passes a big hurdle as a study for alcoholism significantly reduces heavy drinking days
Alcoholism affects about 15 million people in the US, which is over 7% of the adult population. Though socially acceptable and enjoyable for most, alcohol can devastate individuals and the people around them.
Several studies with psychedelics are pointing towards the positive effects of therapy combined with one to two dosings. These studies include the highly publicized psilocybin for alcoholism trial by Awakn Life Sciences, in which 14 participants reduced their consumption of alcohol from 130 to 19 drinks per week.
What was missing from that study, and others like it, is a control group. Though there are considerable issues with blinding in psychedelic studies (i.e. nearly everyone knows who has received the psychedelic or placebo), randomly assigning the participants to both conditions allows for a fair comparison between the psychedelic and placebo.
This is where the first double-blind, placebo-controlled study (also called Randomized Controlled Trial – RCT) with psilocybin for alcoholism comes in. Not only was the study rigorously designed, but with 95 participants, it is also the largest published psilocybin this century.
The headline finding: 10% heavy drinking days in the 7-month follow-up, compared to 24% in the placebo group.
Psilocybin and therapy, a winning combination
Participants in the study were dependent on alcohol for an average of 14 years. There was an almost even split between men and women, and the average age was 46. When they came into the study, they drank heavily four out of seven days. On those days, they averaged seven drinks.
Though this is a lot, this number of drinks is lower than in most other alcoholism studies. On the one hand, this might mean the results may be even more dramatic for those drinking more. On the other hand, this has not been tested yet.
Participants received 12 therapy sessions for eight weeks, using cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy. After the first four and again after eight sessions, they received either psilocybin or diphenhydramine (the placebo).
Diphenhydramine (also known as Benadryl) is an antihistamine commonly used to treat allergies. Some people report feeling more relaxed and euphoric at high doses, but as noted before, nearly all participants knew if they had received the placebo or psilocybin.
Psilocybin was administrated at a high dose of 25mg (for someone weighing 70kg) up to 40mg in the second session. If you weighed 100kg, the second dose could be as high as 57mg of psilocybin (a ‘heroic’ dose).
At the end of the study, the number of drinks per day was reduced from five to one for those who had received psilocybin. Those in the placebo group, were drinking about two drinks per day.
Two distinct conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, the effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy over placebo and therapy are significant and more robust than ever before. Second, being involved in a well-designed therapy protocol (psychedelics or not) can help those struggling with addiction for over a decade.
Currently, three large trials are in the works to further test psilocybin and LSD for treating alcoholism. This study has paved an exciting path for them to follow.
More psychedelic research news…
LSD reduces anxiety for up to three months
The results of the University of Basel and MindMed study were already in the wild for a few months, but now the entire research paper has been published. Participants who were suffering from anxiety (for some related to a life-threatening illness) received two doses of LSD (200 μg) and limited amounts of talk therapy.
Not only did the study find a significant anxiety reduction, but it also found that depression was lower at the follow-up four months later. Building on the results of these 42 participants, MindMed is planning to conduct a Phase II trial with 200 participants and their proprietary LSD formulation.
Adverse events in psychedelic studies limited
A review of adverse events (AEs) in psychedelic studies finds that serious adverse events are not common. More commonly reported are nausea, headaches and anxiety.
Furthermore, the authors argue that challenging experiences could have therapeutic benefits in the long run. To clarify, this refers to processing difficult memories (for instance) and not the abuse by a therapist (which they also note in the study).
Those who use psychedelics are less likely to smoke
Finally, a survey of over 200.000 people finds that those who use psychedelics are less likely to be nicotine dependent. Though a survey isn’t able to point towards causation, it does show that those who are attracted to psychedelics are not also the ones who are regular smokers.