Psychoactive ingredient in 'magic' mushrooms may treat depression for much longer than traditional antidepressants when combined with therapy, study backed by Tim Ferriss finds

• Psilocybin, a psychedelic, showed promise for treating depression, a study indicated.
• Psilocybin, combined with therapy, had "enduring" effects in controlled settings, an expert said.

Psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, showed further promise for the treatment of severe depression in controlled settings after a study found that its effects lasted for up to a year in some people.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University said on Tuesday that they'd previously tracked the drugs' effects on depression for two months.

Now, they found that the drug, alongside psychotherapy, could keep symptoms at bay for at least 12 months after two doses, given a couple weeks apart.

By comparison, existing treatments tend to be taken regularly, often for lengthy periods of time, and don't work for everyone.

Tim Ferris, a well-known psychedelics investor, organized crowdfunding that helped finance the study.

Roland Griffiths, the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and the study's lead author, said of the findings: "Psilocybin not only produces significant and immediate effects, it also has a long duration, which suggests that it may be a uniquely useful new treatment for depression."

"Compared to standard antidepressants, which must be taken for long stretches of time, psilocybin has the potential to enduringly relieve the symptoms of depression with one or two treatments," he added.

Psilocybin is thought to act on the serotonergic part of the brain that modulates mood and may disrupt negative thoughts in depression. The compound is being tested in late-stage trials elsewhere, and pending positive results and a green light from regulators, it may be available in clinics within the next five years. But it's currently illegal in most places.

Dr. Natalie Gukasyan, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University and an author of the study, cautioned that the results were from a research setting, which required structured support from trained clinicians and therapies. "People should not attempt to try it on their own," she said.

No participants reported psilocybin use outside of the context of the study, the study authors said.

David Nutt, the director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit in the division of brain sciences at Imperial College London, told Insider that the study showed the "enduring effects" of psilocybin therapy. "Which supports the idea that despite lots of upfront costs, it may compete with traditional antidepressant medicines in terms of cost-efficacy," said Nutt, who wasn't involved in the research.

To get the results, the researchers measured the severity of 24 participants' depressive symptoms using a recognized scoring system. A score of more than 24 indicated severe depression, while a score of less than seven meant no depression, the study authors said in the paper published on Tuesday in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

For "most participants," the overall score decreased from 22.8 at pretreatment to 7.7 at one year following treatment, the study authors said.

There weren't any "serious adverse events judged to be related to psilocybin" during the 12 months, they added.

'Major challenge'

Gukasyan tweeted on Wednesday that during the course of the year, a third of participants started an antidepressant, and about 40% received "some form of psychotherapy."

Nutt said the findings didn't undermine the results but highlighted a "major challenge" of maintaining the effects of psychedelic treatment. Nutt said that both psychotherapy and antidepressants protected against relapse.

In the study, there were two groups — one received psilocybin immediately, and the other had an eight-week delay. Since both received treatment, we can't tell whether the reduction in symptoms happened spontaneously for some people.

The study authors said that more research was needed to explore whether psilocybin's effects lasted longer than 12 months.

Ketamine, another mind-altering drug, is already available in the US to treat depression.