Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37523886›Full record

SynthesisPsychiatry research2023

Assessing the risk of symptom worsening in psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression: A systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis.

Otto Simonsson, Per Carlbring, Robin Carhart-Harris, Alan K Davis, David J Nutt, Roland R Griffiths, David Erritzoe, Simon B Goldberg

Open access · hybridAbstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychiatry research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
7.2field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Psychedelics in treatment-resistant depression: a comprehensive review of mechanisms, clinical evidence, and recommendations.Neuropsychiatrie : Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Rehabilitation : Organ der Gesellschaft Osterreichischer Nervenarzte und Psychiater · 2026
    Review
  4. Observational
  5. Review
  6. The psychedelic-peptide paradox: a hormetic hypothesis.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025
    Review
  7. Observational
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.

Otto SimonssonDepartment of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute, Norra Stationsgatan 69, Stockholm 113 64, Sweden; Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. Electronic address: otto.simonsson@ki.se.
Per CarlbringDepartment of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Robin Carhart-HarrisNeuroscape Psychedelics Division, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Alan K DavisCenter for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education, College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States; Department of Psychiatry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States; Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
David J NuttCentre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Roland R GriffithsCenter for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
David ErritzoeCentre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Simon B GoldbergDepartment of Counseling Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States.
Imperial College London · GBJohns Hopkins University · USKarolinska Institutet · SEStockholm University · SEUniversity of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison · US

Funding

Mindfulness training delivered via mobile health to reduce depression and anxietyK23AT010879 · NCCIH · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI GOLDBERG, SIMON B · 2020 to 2024
$786k
NCCIH NIH HHS K23 AT010879
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We conducted a meta-analysis using individual participant data from three, two-dose psilocybin trials for depression (N = 102) with the aim of assessing the risk of symptom worsening. Clinically significant symptom worsening occurred for a minority of participants in the psilocybin and escitalopram conditions (∼10%) and for a majority of participants in the waitlist condition (63.6%). Using data from the two trials with control arms, the psilocybin arm showed a lower likelihood of symptom worsening versus waitlist, and no difference in the likelihood of symptom worsening versus escitalopram. The limitation of a relatively small sample size should be addressed in future studies.

Indexed as

HallucinogensPsilocybinDepressionEscitalopramHumansSample SizeSymptom Flare UpEscitalopramHallucinogensPsilocybinDepressionMeta-analysisPsilocybin

Identifiers

PMID37523886
PMCPMC10528683
OpenAlexW4385173317

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.