Can psilocybin help treatment-resistant depression, and how long do the benefits last?

Psilocybin has shown antidepressant effects in controlled human studies, including people whose depression had not responded to previous treatments. In Goodwin and colleagues’ 2022 trial, 233 participants received one of three doses with psychological support. The highest-dose group improved more than the very-low-dose control on the primary depression measure at three weeks; the intermediate dose did not clearly outperform control. This supports a real treatment signal under the conditions studied. It does not establish that everyone responds or that an unsupervised mushroom experience produces the same result.[1]

Lasting benefit is the harder question. In that trial, the sustained-response result at 12 weeks was less convincing than the three-week finding. A separate small study reported substantial response and remission rates one year after psilocybin-assisted therapy, but its long-term follow-up lacked an untreated comparison group. That cannot isolate the lasting drug effect from subsequent care and other changes. The evidence supports the possibility of durable benefit for some people, with follow-up and additional treatment sometimes needed. It does not justify promising a permanent “reset” after one session.[1][2]