Combining Antidepressants and Psilocybin: A Look at the Research

The Link Between Psilocybin and Depression

Recent clinical trials have shown the enormous potential of psilocybin for depression and many people don’t want to wait until it’s legal to start using it.

Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound that has been shown to decrease symptoms of depression in as few as one to two sessions. For the 13% of Americans taking antidepressants on a daily basis, typically for years at a time, this alternative option sounds enticing. There are a few potential reasons psilocybin could be having such a major impact on depressive symptoms.

Studies have shown that people with depression have higher levels of inflammation. Fortunately, psilocybin has anti-inflammatory effects, which may explain the mechanism behind psilocybin’s benefits because anti-inflammatory treatment has antidepressant effects.

Psilocybin has also been shown to increase neuroplasticity by actually changing the structure and function of neurons in the cortex. This is especially important for depressed patients because depression is associated with the atrophy of cortical neurons and the loss of dendritic spines. Along with the physical changes in the brain, psychedelics may facilitate learning, adaptability, and flexible thinking.

As psilocybin has been shown to have an impact on depression, a recent study compared how effective it was to a commonly prescribed SSRI, escitalopram. Both compounds decreased depression scores comparably, but psilocybin generally performed better in the secondary measures (alternative measures for depression, anxiety, experiential avoidance, work, social life, etc.).

Another study looked at the connections in the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). They found that functional networks became more interconnected and flexible a day after psilocybin treatment, whereas no such changes or connectivity was seen in the escitalopram group.

Access to Psilocybin

Psilocybin isn’t legal in most parts of the world so the only options people have for access right now are to apply to be a participant in a clinical trial or to go to a psilocybin retreat center in another country.

The issue for people on antidepressants is that some clinical trials and retreat centers are asking people to discontinue any medications before attending. MycoMeditations wants to maximize psilocybin’s benefit while Synthesis says, “it’s hard to anticipate how SSRIs might interact with psilocybin.” There are a couple of reasons for their concern.

Combining Psilocybin and Antidepressants

Serotonin syndrome (SS), also known as Serotonin Toxicity, is a potentially life-threatening condition resulting from the combination of drugs that increase serotonin levels in the 5-HT2A synapse receptors. Both SSRIs and psilocybin fall into this category so it seems that the combination of the two could potentially lead to SS. Kelan Thomas, Associate Professor at Touro University California College of Pharmacy,…