Psychedelics have become accessible and mainstream, so much so that scientists and pharmaceuticals are considering its application for patients with depression who are resistant to normal treatment. 

While psilocybin treatment has often been touted as revolutionary, it would be remiss to point out that there are potentially adverse effects to the treatment that is not often talked about. A study conducted by several scientists studied the effects of the treatment on individuals, the results of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

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There were 233 participants across 22 groups in 10 countries. They were split into roughly three equal groups. One group received a 1 milligram dose of COMP360 made by psychedelics company Compass Pathways, this group acted as the control since their dosage effectively served as a placebo. Another group received 10 milligrams and the final group received 25 milligrams. 

The results, while interesting, don’t exactly paint psilocybin as the miracle cure that many portray it to be. From the 25mg group, 29% of patients were in remission compared to 8% in the control group. 12 weeks later, only 20% of the high dosage group were responding to the treatment, an improvement over the placebo group which wasn’t statistically significant. 

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In comparison, the negative effects seemed high. 179 of the 223 patients reported adverse effects to the treatment like headaches, nausea, fatigue, or insomnia. While not life threatening, it is something to consider. On the other hand, 12 patients reported severe adverse effects which included suicide ideation and thoughts of self-harm. Of the 12 patients, five of them were from the highest-dosage group, while six were from the 10 mg group. In comparison, only 1 person developed such effects in the placebo group. 

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While the effects of a psychedelic trip can provide therapeutically positive outcomes, the negatives should not be discounted. This also doesn’t mean that research on substances like psilocybin should be put on hold, it just means that transparency is an important part of understanding the drug.