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Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey

INTRODUCTION: The classic psychedelic psilocybin, found in some mushroom species, has received renewed interest in clinical research, showing potential mental health benefits in preliminary trials. Naturalistic use of psilocybin outside of research settings has increased in recent years, though data...

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Autores principales: Nayak, Sandeep M., Jackson, Hillary, Sepeda, Nathan D., Mathai, David S., So, Sara, Yaffe, Abigail, Zaki, Hadi, Brasher, Trey J., Lowe, Matthew X., Jolly, Del R. P., Barrett, Frederick S., Griffiths, Roland R., Strickland, Justin C., Johnson, Matthew W., Jackson, Heather, Garcia-Romeu, Albert
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10545967/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37795509
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1199642
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author Nayak, Sandeep M.
Jackson, Hillary
Sepeda, Nathan D.
Mathai, David S.
So, Sara
Yaffe, Abigail
Zaki, Hadi
Brasher, Trey J.
Lowe, Matthew X.
Jolly, Del R. P.
Barrett, Frederick S.
Griffiths, Roland R.
Strickland, Justin C.
Johnson, Matthew W.
Jackson, Heather
Garcia-Romeu, Albert
author_facet Nayak, Sandeep M.
Jackson, Hillary
Sepeda, Nathan D.
Mathai, David S.
So, Sara
Yaffe, Abigail
Zaki, Hadi
Brasher, Trey J.
Lowe, Matthew X.
Jolly, Del R. P.
Barrett, Frederick S.
Griffiths, Roland R.
Strickland, Justin C.
Johnson, Matthew W.
Jackson, Heather
Garcia-Romeu, Albert
author_sort Nayak, Sandeep M.
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: The classic psychedelic psilocybin, found in some mushroom species, has received renewed interest in clinical research, showing potential mental health benefits in preliminary trials. Naturalistic use of psilocybin outside of research settings has increased in recent years, though data on the public health impact of such use remain limited. METHODS: This prospective, longitudinal study comprised six sequential automated web-based surveys that collected data from adults planning to take psilocybin outside clinical research: at time of consent, 2 weeks before, the day before, 1–3 days after, 2–4 weeks after, and 2–3 months after psilocybin use. RESULTS: A sample of 2,833 respondents completed all baseline assessments approximately 2 weeks before psilocybin use, 1,182 completed the 2–4 week post-use survey, and 657 completed the final follow-up survey 2–3 months after psilocybin use. Participants were primarily college-educated White men residing in the United States with a prior history of psychedelic use; mean age = 40 years. Participants primarily used dried psilocybin mushrooms (mean dose = 3.1 grams) for “self-exploration” purposes. Prospective longitudinal data collected before and after a planned psilocybin experience on average showed persisting reductions in anxiety, depression, and alcohol misuse, increased cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation, spiritual wellbeing, and extraversion, and reduced neuroticism and burnout after psilocybin use. However, a minority of participants (11% at 2–4 weeks and 7% at 2–3 months) reported persisting negative effects after psilocybin use (e.g., mood fluctuations, depressive symptoms). DISCUSSION: Results from this study, the largest prospective survey of naturalistic psilocybin use to date, support the potential for psilocybin to produce lasting improvements in mental health symptoms and general wellbeing.
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spelling pubmed-105459672023-10-04 Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey Nayak, Sandeep M. Jackson, Hillary Sepeda, Nathan D. Mathai, David S. So, Sara Yaffe, Abigail Zaki, Hadi Brasher, Trey J. Lowe, Matthew X. Jolly, Del R. P. Barrett, Frederick S. Griffiths, Roland R. Strickland, Justin C. Johnson, Matthew W. Jackson, Heather Garcia-Romeu, Albert Front Psychiatry Psychiatry INTRODUCTION: The classic psychedelic psilocybin, found in some mushroom species, has received renewed interest in clinical research, showing potential mental health benefits in preliminary trials. Naturalistic use of psilocybin outside of research settings has increased in recent years, though data on the public health impact of such use remain limited. METHODS: This prospective, longitudinal study comprised six sequential automated web-based surveys that collected data from adults planning to take psilocybin outside clinical research: at time of consent, 2 weeks before, the day before, 1–3 days after, 2–4 weeks after, and 2–3 months after psilocybin use. RESULTS: A sample of 2,833 respondents completed all baseline assessments approximately 2 weeks before psilocybin use, 1,182 completed the 2–4 week post-use survey, and 657 completed the final follow-up survey 2–3 months after psilocybin use. Participants were primarily college-educated White men residing in the United States with a prior history of psychedelic use; mean age = 40 years. Participants primarily used dried psilocybin mushrooms (mean dose = 3.1 grams) for “self-exploration” purposes. Prospective longitudinal data collected before and after a planned psilocybin experience on average showed persisting reductions in anxiety, depression, and alcohol misuse, increased cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation, spiritual wellbeing, and extraversion, and reduced neuroticism and burnout after psilocybin use. However, a minority of participants (11% at 2–4 weeks and 7% at 2–3 months) reported persisting negative effects after psilocybin use (e.g., mood fluctuations, depressive symptoms). DISCUSSION: Results from this study, the largest prospective survey of naturalistic psilocybin use to date, support the potential for psilocybin to produce lasting improvements in mental health symptoms and general wellbeing. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-09-19 /pmc/articles/PMC10545967/ /pubmed/37795509 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1199642 Text en Copyright © 2023 Nayak, Jackson, Sepeda, Mathai, So, Yaffe, Zaki, Brasher, Lowe, Jolly, Barrett, Griffiths, Strickland, Johnson, Jackson and Garcia-Romeu. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Nayak, Sandeep M.
Jackson, Hillary
Sepeda, Nathan D.
Mathai, David S.
So, Sara
Yaffe, Abigail
Zaki, Hadi
Brasher, Trey J.
Lowe, Matthew X.
Jolly, Del R. P.
Barrett, Frederick S.
Griffiths, Roland R.
Strickland, Justin C.
Johnson, Matthew W.
Jackson, Heather
Garcia-Romeu, Albert
Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey
title Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey
title_full Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey
title_fullStr Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey
title_full_unstemmed Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey
title_short Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey
title_sort naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10545967/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37795509
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1199642
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