Prognosis
Can Magic Mushrooms Help Alcoholics? NYU Study Shows Promise
- NYU study gave psychotherapy and two doses of mushrooms
- Within 8 months, test subjects reduced heavy drinking by 83%
Psilocybin mushrooms ready to be harvested.
Photographer: Roger Cremers/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
Psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms, showed promise in treating alcohol addiction in a new study from New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
A study of 93 men and women with alcohol dependence found that those given two doses of psilocybin and psychotherapy reduced heavy drinking by 83% within an eight-month period, according to NYU Langone Health, an academic medical center that collaborated on the study. Those who received an antihistamine placebo, by contrast, only reduced drinking by 51%. All received up to 12 psychotherapy sessions, both before and after the drug treatments.