Psychedelics may not be better than antidepressants for depression

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-03-19 02:00

International

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Psychedelic-assisted therapy appears to be no better than traditional antidepressants for treating depression, when people are aware of which treatment they are receiving, according to international researchers. The mind-altering effects of psychedelics make it very difficult to run truly 'blinded' clinical trials, in which people don't know if they are getting a treatment or a placebo - and the researchers say this can exaggerate differences between the drug and the placebo for psychedelics, making them seem more effective. To account for this, the researchers compared data from trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy with trials of traditional antidepressants in which people knew what they were taking, called open-label trials. The data from these trials showed the psychadelics were no more effective than antidepressants. A second trial in the same journal comparing the psychedelic psilocybin with therapy had an inconclusive result, although the authors say it still adds to evidence on the potential of psilocybin treatment for depression.

News release

From: JAMA

Psychedelic Therapy vs Antidepressants for the Treatment of Depression Under Equal Unblinding Conditions
JAMA Psychiatry

About The Study: In trials of depression, psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) was not more effective than open-label traditional antidepressants (TADs). Blinding made a difference for TADs, but not for PAT, confirming that PAT trials are effectively always open label. These results argue against highly optimistic narratives surrounding PAT and highlight the importance of blinding integrity.

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Research JAMA, Web page Paper 1 - Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends).

Research JAMA, Web page Paper 2 - Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends).

Journal/
conference: JAMA Psychiatry

Research: Link to Paper 1 | Paper 2

Organisation/s: University of California, USA, Heidelberg University, Germany

Funder: This work was supported by grant 01EN2006 A/B from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Open access publication of the manuscript was supported by the German Center for Mental Health (DZPG).

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