Systematic review · 2025
Review of psilocybin therapy for depression and anxiety in palliative care patients
- Original title
- Psilocybin-assisted therapy for individuals with palliative care needs: A systematic review of safety and efficacy.
- Authors
- Matos ARS, Silva AC, Rego L, et al.
- Journal
- Palliative medicine, 2025
- Molecules
- Psilocybin
- Conditions
- Depression, Anxiety, End-of-life distress
- Participants
- 74
- Evidence grade
- Low
- Source
- Read the original paper
The question
Can psilocybin given alongside psychological support safely reduce depression and anxiety in people receiving palliative care for serious illness?
What they did
Researchers searched four research databases in April 2024 for quantitative studies of psilocybin-assisted therapy in adults in palliative care settings. They included randomized controlled trials, longitudinal studies and observational studies, and excluded reviews and unpublished material. Of 215 articles found, six studies met the criteria, covering 74 participants aged 22 to 75.
What they found
Across the randomized and open-label trials, psilocybin-assisted therapy was linked to meaningful drops in depression and anxiety scores. Between 57% and 79% of participants had at least a 50% reduction in symptoms on standard rating scales such as the Hamilton and Beck depression scales and the Hamilton and State-Trait anxiety scales. Improvements lasted up to six to eight months in most trials, and up to 4.5 years in one follow-up study. Side effects were described as generally mild and short-lived, including nausea, vomiting and temporary rises in blood pressure and heart rate; no serious adverse events were reported.
The fine print
The total pooled sample is very small at 74 people, and some of the included studies had no control group or blinding, which makes expectation effects hard to rule out. Studies of this kind usually recruit carefully screened volunteers, so results may not apply to everyone in palliative care. The review did not combine results statistically, and this summary is based only on the abstract.
What it means
Early research suggests psilocybin-assisted therapy may ease depression and anxiety for some people facing serious illness, with mostly mild short-term side effects, but the evidence base is still very small and larger studies are needed.
Evidence grade: Low. A systematic review, but it pools only six studies with 74 people in total, including uncontrolled open-label trials, and results were not combined statistically.
This summary is based on the study’s published abstract.