Magic mushrooms-assisted treatment may help people with alcohol use disorder: Study

Psilocybin-assisted treatment may help people with alcohol use disorder in reducing their consumption, a new study published found. Psilocybin compound is commonly referred to as "shrooms" or magic mushrooms. It is the hallucinogen behind the trippy effects people get after consuming "magic mushrooms".

In a recent study published on Wednesday (August 24) in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers said that they attempted to examine the effects of psilocybin on any type of addiction.

A senior study author and psychiatrist Dr Michael Bogenschutz, who is the director of the NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine, said in a news conference that people who underwent two psychedelic mushrooms "trips" with the help of a psychotherapist reduced "their days of heavy drinking by 83% over eight months."

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Jon Kostas, a 32-year-old study participant said at the news conference, "I'd say (psilocybin) saved my life. My first AA meeting was at 16 years old. I was 25 when I found the clinical trial and by that time, I was 'treatment-resistant.' I had tried everything to no avail."

The study found that in the double-blind randomised clinical trial with 93 participants, the percentage of heavy drinking days during 32 weeks of follow-up was significantly lower in the psilocybin group as compared to the diphenhydramine group.

In simple terms, the results of the trial showed that "psilocybin administered in combination with psychotherapy produced robust decreases in the percentage of heavy drinking days".

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In the conclusion, the study mentions that these results provide support for further study of psilocybin-assisted treatment for AUD.

The researchers claimed that 48% of the patients who used psilocybin reported quitting alcohol use entirely at the end of the eight-month trial.

The researchers collected the hair and fingernail samples of the candidates to confirm reports of abstinence. Bogenschutz said that twice as many as those in the placebo group were able to abstain.

Bogenschutz also said, "If these effects hold up in future trials, psilocybin will be a real breakthrough in the treatment of alcohol use disorder."

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