Psilocybin's Role in Trauma Recovery May Be Mental and Physical, Study Finds

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Key Takeaways

• A study found that recent past use of magic mushrooms helped ease psychological distress in adults with a history of trauma.

• Childhood trauma has lasting effects on stress response, which could lead to enduring psychological distress.

• Childhood trauma may also impact physical health, including menopause experience and metabolic health.

• Psilocybin activates serotonin receptors, which are responsible for regulating mood and anxiety.

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, may reduce the lasting psychological distress adults have from traumatic childhood experiences, suggests a new study. It could also improve physical health in later adulthood.

In their study, published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, the researchers found that the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and psychological distress was lower in participants who had used psilocybin in the past three months.

“Psilocybin and other psychedelics are believed to provide an opportunity for individuals to reprocess or reevaluate some of these early experiences—reopening, in a way, the critical period of social development,” lead study author Kiffer G. Card, PhD, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University, told Verywell. “Often times this requires therapeutic support as well, but even in recreational use, individuals may be able to experience positive outcomes.”

What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences?

Adverse childhood experiences are any traumatic event or longer-term adversity that occurred in one’s youth. ACEs include abuse, neglect, having an incarcerated parent, war, poverty, systemic racism, natural and manmade disasters, severe illness, bullying, and more. About one in six adults has experienced four or more ACEs, according to research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A Way to Ease Distress?

Card and his fellow researchers recruited participants online and included 951 psilocybin users in their final analysis. Participants were an average age of 40 at the time.

“Our study explored whether those who engaged in recreational psilocybin use also had lesser psychological distress,” he said. “It also explored whether the effect of psilocybin in reducing distress appeared to differ according to the level of childhood adversity.”

In short, the answer is yes to both outcomes.

To measure distress, researchers asked participants to complete the Kessler 6-item Psychological Distress Scale to assess their current mental health. Almost 47% showed low levels of psychological distress, 26% had moderate levels, and 27% had high levels.

“We found that psilocybin use was associated with lesser distress and that the effect was strongest among those with more severe histories of childhood adversity—meaning they may be especially good candidates for psilocybin therapy,” Card says. “Our study was just observational, and we’d need to do a clinical trial to confirm this.”

How Do You Assess Childhood Trama?

Participants completed the 10-item Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire to assess childhood trauma. About 17% of participants reported no childhood trauma. Forty-four percent reported exposure to one to three ACEs, and more than 38% reported four or more ACEs.

Related: Psychedelic Drug May Be As Effective as Your Antidepressants

How Adverse Childhood Experiences Impact Mental Health in Adulthood

According to Card, early life experiences shape how we understand ourselves and our relationships with others. ACEs alter your stress response, which can negatively impact your mental health long term.

“When you experience adversity in early life, your emotional and psychological development is set off course,” he said. “Among the consequences this causes is increased risk for psychological distress.”

Adverse events in childhood trigger the fight-flight-freeze response, releasing inflammatory cytokines and stress hormones. The increased inflammation impacts development in the parts of the brain that help regulate stress. And the increased stress hormone levels can remain elevated into adulthood.

How might these heightened levels manifest in adulthood? A person may end up in a state of hypervigilance, where they feel they are constantly on guard for perceived threats. Hypervigilance can drive anxiety and psychological distress.

ACEs may also cause disruption to serotonin signaling, which helps regulate mood and anxiety.

Related: 3 Surprising Conditions Psychedelics Might Be Used For

ACEs Have Physical Implications, Too

In addition to mental health, ACEs impact physical health years after they occur.

“Addressing the root psychological problem might offer some help in turning back these particular conditions as well,” Sarah Jeffries, MSc, a mental health first aid trainer who was not involved in the study, told Verywell. “Direct research into these matters is needed.”

ACEs and Metabolic Health

ACEs have links to metabolic health concerns, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and more. That’s because stress hormones, which can remain elevated throughout life after an ACE, are responsible for blood sugar control, feelings of hunger or fullness, and more.

ACEs and Menopause Symptoms

A heightened stress response from ACEs may also create a cascade of issues that affect a person’s menopause experience. A 2021 study included 1,670 people of perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopausal age. After adjusting for other factors, the researchers found a correlation between higher childhood adversity scores and worsened self-reported menopause symptoms.

Why Psilocybin May Help

Researchers have developed various models to explain why psychedelics may reduce psychological distress from trauma. But first, it’s important to understand what it does to the body.

“Psilocybin works primarily on serotonin receptors, which play a significant role in our mood and emotional regulation,” Jorge Padron, PMHNP, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, tells Verywell. “Its interaction with the 5-HT2A receptor is thought to be primarily responsible for inducing the psychedelic experience.” Padron is trained in psychedelic-assisted therapy and was not involved in the ACEs study.

In that altered state of consciousness, any sense of rigidity and hierarchy is relaxed. This allows users to change negative beliefs in favor of ones that are better serving.

Another concept is the “helioscope effect," a nod to the instrument used to look at the sun without burning your eyes. In a normal state of consciousness, thinking about past traumas can be triggering or emotionally “burning.” Researchers say that psychedelics offer a sort of helioscope effect by allowing people to consider traumatic experiences without the associated triggers upsetting them. This may help people reprocess their trauma and lessen the associated psychological distress.

However, Card offers a word of caution.

“People with histories of childhood adversity might be at risk for ‘bad trips’ when using alone,” he said. Working with a psychedelic-assisted therapist is recommended for safety and efficacy.

Currently, psilocybin use is still illegal at the federal level in the United States. However, some states and municipalities have decriminalized psilocybin use or have legalized its use in the context of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

What This Means For You

Psilocybin-assisted therapy may be able to help with adult psychological distress stemming from the lasting effects of childhood trauma. However, more research is needed. You may be able to receive psilocybin-assisted therapy in a state where the approach has been legalized.

Read the original article on Verywell Health.