Can One Single Dose of Psilocybin Treat Alcoholism?

It is estimated that 400 million people globally are affected by alcohol use disorders, with 209 million living with alcohol addiction. Excessive drinking is well known to ruin lives, health, and relationships, and yet it is still it normalized within the majority of society. As anyone who’s ever tried to stick to the sparkling water for an evening knows, the pressure to drink can be enormous!

For those with alcohol dependance, sticking to a sober-life can be incredibly difficult. Even for those who enjoy a drink but would like to cut down, it can be tricky. Every event is toasted with a glass of fizz, every sunny day looks like a Heineken advert. A shift in perspective is required, and it seems that magic mushrooms could be the answer…

Single High Dose of Psilocybin May Help Reduce Alcohol Use, Study Finds

A new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology has found that a single high dose of psilocybin (paired with psychological support) can lead to meaningful reductions in alcohol consumption among people with severe alcohol use disorder (AUD). In this small open-label trial, all participants completed the treatment, and most showed significant improvements, including fewer days of heavy drinking, lower cravings, and increased confidence in their ability to stay sober.

Psilocybin is the active psychedelic compound found in ‘magic’ mushrooms. Over the past few years, it’s drawn increasing attention from researchers for its potential to treat mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Psilocybin acts on serotonin receptors in the brain and can produce intense changes in perception, emotion, and self-awareness. While past studies have mostly looked at repeated dosing, this research focused on whether just one dose might be enough to spark lasting change.

“I was intrigued by the early pilot studies on alcohol use disorder and nicotine dependence showing that just a few doses of psilocybin could have immediate and long-lasting effects,” said study author Mathias Ebbesen Jensen, a postdoctoral researcher at the Neuropsychiatric Laboratory at Psychiatric Center Copenhagen.

At the time, Jensen was involved in clinical research on more traditional medications for alcohol use, such as GLP-1 receptor agonists. But he saw something different — and promising — in the effects of psilocybin: “Psilocybin contrasted this in many ways by showing long-lasting benefits way beyond the drug’s presence in the organism.” He was also inspired by psychologist William Miller’s concept of “quantum change”, sudden, transformative shifts in behavior and mindset, which he saw echoed in the profound experiences induced by psilocybin.

Inside the Study

The research team ran a small, open-label trial with ten adults (eight men and two women, with a median age of 44) who were actively seeking treatment for alcohol use disorder. Most had never received treatment before, and only half had any prior experience with psychedelics.

The treatment involved five sessions in total:

• Two preparatory therapy sessions before dosing
• One high-dose psilocybin session (25 mg)
• Two integration sessions afterward

The therapeutic approach drew from motivational interviewing, acceptance and commitment therapy, and guided imagery, tools designed to help participants prepare for and process their psychedelic experience.

A Calm Environment, a Meaningful Trip

On the dosing day, participants came to the clinic after a light meal and underwent medical checks. They were given a capsule containing 25 mg of psilocybin and spent about six hours reclining in a comfortable room with curated music playing. Two trained therapists were present throughout the session, providing support if needed. Participants’ experiences were monitored closely, and they completed several questionnaires afterward to assess the emotional and psychological impact of the session.

To better understand how the drug was processed, researchers collected blood samples throughout the day. These showed wide variation in how participants metabolized psilocybin. Peak levels of psilocin (its active form) ranged from 14 to 59 micrograms per liter, and the time to reach those peaks varied from just over an hour to nearly five hours.

Despite these differences, all participants reported intense psychedelic effects. Most reached the highest possible score for subjective intensity, and many described the experience as deeply meaningful or mystical, characterized by feelings of unity, timelessness, and spiritual insight. On average, peak effects hit about 1.3 hours after ingestion and lasted around six hours.

Positive Outcomes and Lasting Effects

The treatment was well-tolerated, with no serious side effects reported. Some participants experienced short-lived issues like anxiety, headaches, or fatigue the next day, but these resolved on their own. Vital signs like blood pressure and heart rate rose slightly during the session but stayed within safe limits.

Twelve weeks after the psilocybin session, participants had, on average, reduced their heavy drinking days by 37.5 percentage points. The number of drinks consumed per day also dropped, with a median reduction of about 3.4 drinks. Cravings for alcohol declined significantly within the first week and stayed low throughout the 12-week follow-up. Participants also reported feeling more capable of resisting alcohol, a sense of self-efficacy that held steady over time.

“This was the first study to assess the safety and efficacy of just a single psilocybin dose for patients with alcohol use disorder,” Jensen told PsyPost. “It was also the first study to assess blood samples during the psychedelic session to see how the blood concentrations of the drug behaved over time and whether this was important in relation to the effects.”

One particularly interesting finding was that the intensity of the mystical-type experience — not the concentration of psilocin in the blood — was more strongly linked to reduced drinking. Those who met criteria for a “complete mystical experience” were more likely to respond well to treatment.

“In many ways, I was surprised that the total amount of drug exposure did not relate to a better treatment outcome,” Jensen said. “Participants with peak concentrations below the average still had very profound and intense experiences that predicted a better treatment response.”

He noted that individual factors (such as personality traits like openness and suggestibility) may influence how deeply someone experiences psilocybin’s effects, even at lower blood concentrations.

Looking Ahead

While the results are promising, the researchers are careful to point out the study’s limitations. With only ten participants and no control group, it’s impossible to say definitively that psilocybin alone caused the improvements. The open-label design also means that both researchers and participants knew what treatment was being given, which could introduce bias. Additionally, with just two women in the group and all participants self-referring for treatment in Denmark, the findings may not apply to everyone with alcohol use disorder.

“The readers should be cautious when interpreting these results,” Jensen emphasized. “We only included ten participants, of which only two were women, and everybody knew they were going to get psilocybin… It is likely that the effects we observed are inflated by high expectations.”

Still, the study lays important groundwork. The team is now conducting a more rigorous, randomized, placebo-controlled trial using the same single-dose approach. That larger study is set to wrap up in fall 2025 and will also explore how psilocybin affects the brain and biological markers of neuroplasticity.

Freedom From Addiction

A future where being alcohol-free is it at once easier and less stigmatized is closer than ever. And ‘freedom’ is the optimum word here. For many people who suffer from alcohol-use disorder it is their addiction that keeps them trapped, their cravings that enslave them. If psilocybin can break these bonds for the 400 million people who suffer globally, the world will truly be changed.