# Classic serotonergic psychedelics for mood and depressive symptoms: a meta-analysis of mood disorder patients and healthy participants

Review · Nicole Leite Galvão Coelho, Wolfgang Marx, Maria Gonzalez, Justin Sinclair, Michael de Manincor, Daniel Perkins, Jerome J. Sarris

- Archive id: doi:10.1007/s00213-020-05719-1
- Published: 2021-01-11
- Venue: Psychopharmacology
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-020-05719-1
- PMID: 33427944
- PMCID: PMC7826317
- Citations: 137
- Source URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-020-05719-1
- PDF: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00213-020-05719-1.pdf
- Provenance: openalex+europepmc

## Abstract

RATIONALE: Major depressive disorder is one of the leading global causes of disability, for which the classic serotonergic psychedelics have recently reemerged as a potential therapeutic treatment option. OBJECTIVE: We present the first meta-analytic review evaluating the clinical effects of classic serotonergic psychedelics vs placebo for mood state and symptoms of depression in both healthy and clinical populations (separately). RESULTS: Our search revealed 12 eligible studies (n = 257; 124 healthy participants, and 133 patients with mood disorders), with data from randomized controlled trials involving psilocybin (n = 8), lysergic acid diethylamide (\[LSD\]; n = 3), and ayahuasca (n = 1). The meta-analyses of acute mood outcomes (3 h to 1 day after treatment) for healthy volunteers and patients revealed improvements with moderate significant effect sizes in favor of psychedelics, as well as for the longer-term (16 to 60 days after treatments) mood state of patients. For patients with mood disorder, significant effect sizes were detected on the acute, medium (2-7 days after treatment), and longer-term outcomes favoring psychedelics on the reduction of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Despite the concerns over unblinding and expectancy, the strength of the effect sizes, fast onset, and enduring therapeutic effects of these psychotherapeutic agents encourage further double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials assessing them for management of negative mood and depressive symptoms.

_Abstract reproduced under CC-BY (publisher license, via OpenAlex)._

Topics: [Novel Psychiatric Therapeutics](https://space-kitty.com/topics/psychiatric-therapeutics)

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