Can Psilocybin Be Used for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder?

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a serious problem in our society as an estimated 21 million American suffer for this clinical condition. A main strategy for the treatment of MDD involves the inhabitation of the reuptake of serotonin and/or noradrenaline. To correct this problem selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are commonly used for the treatment of MDD.

This traditional treatment approach has many side effects, which include gastrointestinal problems, insomnia, cognitive impairment, and activation and aggravation of psychosis, etc. Additionally, about 20% of patients do not respond to such treatments, and many who do respond, eventually relapse. To overcome the deficiencies of the present-day antidepressants there is an urgent need to discover the alternative antidepressants with lesser or no side effects. In this pursuit, psilocybin which is found in “magic mushrooms” has been recently shown to relieve MDD symptoms rapidly and with sustained benefit over the period of several months.

In this mini review, we will summarize the recent research on psilocybin as a potential antidepressant. We believe, our summary will facilitate further research in the thorough assessment of the risks and benefits of the use of psilocybin as a drug for the treatment of clinical depression.