Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A new study announced Wednesday shows that psilocybin -- the active compound in "magic mushrooms" -- and mindfulness training can together ease depression and burnout among healthcare workers.
Frontline healthcare workers struggling with depression after the COVID-19 pandemic saw significant relief from a treatment combining psilocybin group therapy with mindfulness training, according to a new study from Huntsman Mental Health Institute at University of Utah Health.
Doctors and nurses who received this controlled, group psilocybin therapy along with an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program saw far better improvement than those who only learned mindfulness techniques, the report, published in September, said.
The study, published in PLOS Medicine, included 25 healthcare workers who worked directly with COVID patients and were struggling with depression and burnout. A select group of healthcare workers were randomized to get a single dose of psilocybin in a controlled clinical setting along with eight weeks of mindfulness training. The other half completed the mindfulness training without the psilocybin.
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