Study Finds Psilocybin Increases ‘Nature-Relatedness’ and the Effect is Long-Lasting

Preliminary study indicates patients using psilocybin to treat treatment-resistant depression are more in touch with nature and have fewer authoritarian political views.

January 2018

A study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology reports that people being treated with psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) experienced “lasting changes in attitudes and beliefs.” Specifically, patients experienced a significant increase in “nature-relatedness” and a significant decrease in authoritarian political views. Both changes remained significant at 7-12 months post-dosing. The authors caution that it is premature to infer any causality from this work but the results are intriguing and deserve further investigation.