Journal
ARCHIVES OF GENERAL PSYCHIATRY
Volume 68, Issue 1, Pages 71-78Publisher
AMER MEDICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.116
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Heffter Research Institute
- Betsy Gordon Foundation
- Nathan Cummings Foundation
- National Institutes of Health [M01-RR00425]
- NATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH RESOURCES [M01RR000425] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Context: Researchers conducted extensive investigations of hallucinogens in the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1970s, however, political and cultural pressures forced the cessation of all projects. This investigation reexamines a potentially promising clinical application of hallucinogens in the treatment of anxiety reactive to advanced-stage cancer. Objective: To explore the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in patients with advanced-stage cancer and reactive anxiety. Design: A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of patients with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety, with subjects acting as their own control, using a moderate dose (0.2 mg/kg) of psilocybin. Setting: A clinical research unit within a large public sector academic medical center. Participants: Twelve adults with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety. Main Outcome Measures: In addition to monitoring safety and subjective experience before and during experimental treatment sessions, follow-up data including results from the Beck Depression Inventory, Profile of Mood States, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were collected unblinded for 6 months after treatment. Results: Safe physiological and psychological responses were documented during treatment sessions. There were no clinically significant adverse events with psilocybin. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory trait anxiety subscale demonstrated a significant reduction in anxiety at 1 and 3 months after treatment. The Beck Depression Inventory revealed an improvement of mood that reached significance at 6 months; the Profile of Mood States identified mood improvement after treatment with psilocybin that approached but did not reach significance. Conclusions: This study established the feasibility and safety of administering moderate doses of psilocybin to patients with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety. Some of the data revealed a positive trend toward improved mood and anxiety. These results support the need for more research in this long-neglected field.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available