Yes to “made in France” psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, to support depressed alcohol-dependent patients. This is the conclusion of thePAD study (Psilocybin in Alcohol Dependence) led by Professor Amandine Luquiens, addiction specialist at the Nîmes University Hospital whose first results have just been published in the international journal Addiction.
Both a great recognition for a study launched in February 2024, the first to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of this psychedelic, but also very good news in the face of an approach that is part of a renewed international interest in these therapies and where France has until now been somewhat behind.
One-third of depressed patients are resistant to conventional antidepressants
Today, we know that nearly one in two people relapse within six months of withdrawal and that, in addition, a third of depressed patients are resistant to conventional antidepressants. Now, with theThe first results of PAD clearly demonstrate that the treated group shows a very clear improvement in abstinence rates and depressive symptoms.
The study involved recently weaned patients (between 2 and 8 weeks) suffering from both an alcohol use disorder and also severe depression. After a random draw and always in addition to psychotherapy, 30 patients received oral psilocybin – twice spaced three weeks apart – either at a high dose (25 mg) or a very low dose (1 mg) considered inactive.
Please note that this molecule is always taken in a secure environment, taking place in the morning at the hospital and requiring you to remain on site for the entire duration of the "trip", under the supervision of a caregiver.
Other trials have started in France
The results evaluated according to different questionnaires at 12 weeks demonstrate that it is in the group having received the high dose that the abstinence rates are the best, i.e. 55 % against 11 % in the so-called active placebo group.
As Professor Luquiens indicates in the press release from the Nîmes hospital, " These results, although preliminary, open the way to larger-scale research to better define their place in the therapeutic arsenal for alcohol use disorder, a major public health problem often associated with depression..
In France, other tests have already started, others being waiting as PAPAUD Or Adely with LSD. Because The classification of psilocybin as a narcotic in France obviously hinders research compared to countries like Switzerland where psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy programs have been in place in hospitals for five years now.
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