A breakthrough in mental health treatment may be just around the corner, as the preliminary results from Monash University’s psilocybin-assisted therapy trial have revealed a remarkable clinical reduction in anxiety, four times greater than the placebo group.
Most importantly, the trial’s rate of full remission, or a full cessation of symptoms, was five times greater than the placebo group, a marked and compelling difference in treatment outcomes.
Monash has been studying medicinal psychedelic compounds at its Clinical Psychedelic Lab led by Dr Paul Liknaitzky, where the university seeks to “investigate novel applications for psychedelic therapies, translating evidence into best clinical practice, exploring and mitigating under-examined risks, delivering next-generation therapist training, and improving access and affordability”.
Large clinical difference
Last year the Therapeutic Goods Administration de-scheduled psilocybin and MDMA, two psychedelics considered to have powerful potential medicinal uses, especially in areas of mental health concerning anxiety, depression and PTSD.
The down-scheduling of the two compounds opened the path to formal clinical assessment, allowing Monash to conduct its clinical trial.
The trial ran for 16 months and included 72 people, targeting those with generalised anxiety order specifically.
GAD can present similarly to a panic or obsessive-compulsive disorder and includes symptoms of chronic anxiety and worry. These worries are intense, persistent and interfere with everyday life, causing significant distress or making it hard to do everyday activities like working, studying or socialising.
“We found a large clinical difference in anxiety symptoms between our psilocybin group and our placebo group six weeks following their last treatment,” Dr Paul Liknaitzky said.
“I believe it may have been the fastest psychedelic therapy trial run out of a single site in the modern era and just a tremendous learning process. It was very complex, challenging and satisfying work for the whole team.
“We witnessed many different journeys, from agony to catharsis to joy and relief and inspiration, and many deeply transformational outcomes.”
Dr Liknaitzky stresses that this particular treatment is very new and does not work for everybody.
“While our results and others from around the world have been impressive, I think we can still do better,” he said, “and my hunch is that one aspect to focus on is a longer course of psychotherapeutic support.
“We are starting to map out key factors in a future best-practice of psychedelic therapy.”
Monash’s success has been repeated by other organisations in recent weeks, with publicly traded companies like Incannex Healthcare Inc (NASDAQ:IXHL) producing strong clinical results in their own trials – 44% of patients demonstrated an at least 50% reduction in anxiety and 27% experienced complete remission, again five-times greater than the placebo group.