Psilocybin for Depression and Anxiety: What the Research Shows
By Dr (TCM) Attilio D'Alberto | Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Wokingham
A growing body of clinical research is investigating psilocybin — the psychoactive compound in so-called "magic mushrooms" — as a possible future treatment for depression and anxiety. This article is an educational overview of that research, written for people who have seen the headlines and want a measured summary. It is not medical advice, and it is not an endorsement. Psilocybin is a Class A controlled drug in the UK and is not an approved or available treatment. I do not offer, prescribe, supply or recommend psilocybin or magic mushrooms in any form, and nothing on this page should be read as encouragement to obtain or use them.
Important legal and safety notice
In the UK, psilocybin and magic mushrooms are a Class A drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and a Schedule 1 substance under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. It is a criminal offence to produce, possess or supply them. Psilocybin is not a licensed or approved medicine and is not available on the NHS or privately as a treatment. All of the studies described below were carried out in tightly controlled clinical trials under Home Office licence, with medical screening, psychological support and supervision.
Taking psilocybin outside such a setting can be dangerous. It can trigger severe anxiety, frightening experiences, and lasting psychological harm, and it can be hazardous for anyone with a personal or family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder, and when combined with antidepressants or other medication. If you are struggling with depression or anxiety, please speak to your doctor — and in a crisis in the UK, contact your GP, NHS 111, or the Samaritans on 116 123.
On this page
- What psilocybin is — and its legal status
- The research on depression
- The research on anxiety and end-of-life distress
- How it is thought to work
- A Chinese medicine reflection — reading a plant by how it grows
- The risks, and why setting matters
- Do I offer this?
- Frequently asked questions
- References
1. What psilocybin is — and its legal status
Psilocybin is a naturally-occurring compound found in a number of mushroom species. In the body it is converted to psilocin, which acts on serotonin receptors in the brain and produces altered perception, mood and sense of self for several hours. It has been used in various traditional and ceremonial contexts for a very long time, and over the past two decades it has become the focus of serious academic research into mental health.
It is important to be clear about the legal position before going any further. In the UK, psilocybin is a Class A, Schedule 1 controlled drug — the most restricted category, reserved for substances considered to have no recognised medicinal use and requiring a Home Office licence even for laboratory research. In 2025, government advisers recommended easing some of the licensing burden on researchers, but at the time of writing psilocybin remains a controlled drug and is not legally available as a treatment to the public. Everything described below is research, not current practice.
2. The research on depression
Several well-conducted trials have investigated psilocybin, given alongside structured psychological support, for depression. The findings are genuinely interesting, but they are early, the trials are small, and the results are mixed — so they should be read as a promising research direction, not as settled science.
- Psilocybin versus an antidepressant (Imperial College London, 2021). A phase 2, double-blind trial led by Carhart-Harris and colleagues, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, compared two doses of psilocybin with a six-week course of the antidepressant escitalopram in 59 people with moderate-to-severe depression. On the study's main measure, the two did not differ significantly; some secondary measures numerically favoured psilocybin. The authors stressed the trial was small and exploratory.
- A single dose for treatment-resistant depression (COMPASS Pathways, 2022). A larger phase 2 trial of 233 people with treatment-resistant depression, also in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that a single 25 mg dose reduced depression scores significantly more than a 1 mg comparison dose at three weeks — but the benefit was less consistent by twelve weeks, and adverse effects were common (headache, nausea, dizziness, and instances of suicidal ideation across all dose groups). The authors called for larger and longer trials.
- A 2024 research review. A systematic review published in the BMJ pooled seven randomised trials of psilocybin for depressive symptoms and reported an overall positive signal, with larger effects in older participants and those who had previously used psychedelics — while again noting the small, hard-to-blind nature of the evidence.
The honest summary is that psilocybin-assisted therapy shows promise in early trials for depression, that it is not an approved or established treatment, and that where it has helped it has always been within a supervised clinical programme — never as something taken alone.
3. The research on anxiety and end-of-life distress
Some of the most striking early findings come from people facing the anxiety and depression that accompany a life-threatening cancer diagnosis. Two trials published together in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in 2016 are the most cited:
- Johns Hopkins (Griffiths et al., 2016). In 51 patients with life-threatening cancer, a high dose of psilocybin, given with psychological support, was followed by large reductions in clinician- and self-rated depression and anxiety. At six-month follow-up, around 80% still showed a clinically significant improvement in mood and anxiety in this small sample.
- New York University (Ross et al., 2016). A smaller crossover trial of around 29 cancer patients reported rapid reductions in anxiety and depression after a single psilocybin session with therapy, with a majority maintaining an antidepressant response at seven weeks.
These are small studies, in a very specific and distressing clinical situation, and the psychedelic experience is almost impossible to "blind" properly — so the results, while remarkable, need to be treated with appropriate caution and confirmed in larger trials.
4. How it is thought to work
Researchers do not yet fully understand the mechanism, and several ideas are being explored in parallel. Psilocin acts mainly on a serotonin receptor (the 5-HT2A receptor) that is densely expressed in parts of the brain involved in mood, self-reflection and perception. Brain-imaging work suggests psilocybin temporarily loosens the normal, rigid patterns of activity in what is called the "default mode network" — the circuitry associated with rumination and a fixed sense of self — and may briefly increase the brain's capacity to form new connections (neuroplasticity). Many trial participants also report a profound subjective experience of connection and openness during the session, and some researchers believe this experience itself is part of how any benefit arises. All of this remains an active area of investigation rather than established fact.
5. A Chinese medicine reflection — reading a plant by how it grows
I want to offer a reflection here rather than a claim, and to be clear at the outset: psilocybin mushrooms are not part of Chinese herbal medicine. They do not appear in the Chinese materia medica, they are not something I prescribe, and this section is not a treatment recommendation. It is worth stating plainly: there is no mention of psilocybin or "magic mushrooms" in any of the classical Chinese medical texts — not in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (the foundational materia medica), nor in the later herbal canons such as the Ben Cao Gang Mu. They were never a part of traditional Chinese practice, and what follows is simply a way of thinking about plants, not a claim of historical use.
That said, there is an old thread running through almost every traditional system of medicine, including Chinese medicine: the idea that you can begin to understand a plant's character by watching closely how it lives in Nature — where it grows, what it does, the shape and gesture of it. In Western herbal history this was sometimes called the doctrine of signatures. It is a philosophical and poetic way of seeing, not a scientific mechanism, and it should be read in that spirit.
Seen through that lens, the mushroom is a curious thing. The part we see is only the fruit of something far larger and hidden: a vast underground web, the mycelium, that threads through the soil and literally connects trees and plants to one another across a forest floor, carrying water, nutrients and chemical signals between them. The mushroom is the point where that hidden network of connection pushes up out of the darkness and into the light. A traditional observer, reading the plant by its nature, might describe it as something whose character is connection and emergence — drawing what is hidden into the open, and, in a person, perhaps helping someone feel less alone and more a part of the living world around them, coming out of their shell from dark into light.
It is at least interesting that the words trial participants reach for — connection, openness, coming out of oneself — echo that old observational reading so closely. I share this only as a way of thinking about how traditional medicine has always tried to understand the natural world, not as an explanation of how psilocybin works and certainly not as a suggestion that anyone should seek it out.
6. The risks, and why setting matters
The clinical trials go to enormous lengths to make psilocybin as safe as possible: careful medical and psychiatric screening, a known and measured dose of a pharmaceutical-grade compound, a prepared and supportive environment, trained therapists present throughout, and structured follow-up. None of that is true of taking mushrooms obtained illegally. The risks of doing so include:
- Severe psychological distress — frightening, overwhelming experiences ("bad trips"), acute anxiety and panic, which an unsupported setting can make much worse and longer-lasting.
- Serious risk for certain people — a personal or family history of psychosis, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder is a strong contraindication, as psychedelics can precipitate or worsen these conditions.
- Dangerous interactions — particularly with antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs), lithium and other medicines. Combining psychedelics with some drugs can be hazardous.
- Misidentification — foraged mushrooms are easily confused with poisonous species, some of which cause fatal organ failure.
- Legal consequences — possession and supply are criminal offences in the UK.
This is precisely why the research matters: if psilocybin ever does become an approved treatment, it will be within a regulated, medically-supervised framework — which is the opposite of self-experimentation.
7. Do I offer this?
No. To be completely unambiguous: I do not offer, provide, prescribe, supply, source or recommend psilocybin, magic mushrooms or any psychedelic, and I cannot help anyone obtain them. My clinical work is acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, used as a complementary therapy alongside conventional care. This article exists only to give an accurate, responsible summary of a field of research that patients increasingly ask about.
If you are dealing with depression, anxiety or stress, the right first step is a conversation with your doctor about evidence-based options. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine may be used supportively alongside that care, and you are welcome to contact me to discuss whether they might help.
8. Frequently asked questions
Is psilocybin legal in the UK?
No. Psilocybin and magic mushrooms are a Class A drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and a Schedule 1 substance under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. Producing, possessing or supplying them is a criminal offence, and psilocybin is not a licensed or available medicine.
Can psilocybin treat depression or anxiety?
It is not an approved or available treatment. Early clinical trials, conducted under strict supervision, suggest it may help some people with depression and with anxiety related to life-threatening illness, but the studies are small, the results are mixed, and larger long-term trials are still needed.
Do you offer psilocybin or magic mushroom therapy?
No. I do not offer, prescribe, supply or recommend psilocybin in any form, and I cannot help anyone obtain it. My practice is acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine as a complementary therapy.
Is it safe to take magic mushrooms for depression on my own?
No. Taking them outside a supervised clinical trial can be dangerous and is illegal. Risks include severe anxiety and lasting psychological harm, serious problems for people with a history of psychosis or bipolar disorder, dangerous interactions with antidepressants and other medicines, and poisoning from misidentified mushrooms. If you are struggling, please speak to your doctor.
Is psilocybin part of Chinese herbal medicine?
No. Psilocybin mushrooms are not part of the Chinese materia medica and are not something used or prescribed in Chinese herbal medicine. The reflection in this article is a philosophical way of thinking about plants in Nature, not a TCM treatment or a claim of effectiveness.
9. References
This article is for general information only. It is not medical, psychological or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation to use any controlled substance. Always consult your doctor about treatment for depression or anxiety.
