Pilot Study Finds Psilocybin May Ease Symptoms in Treatment-Resistant Anorexia Patients

Imperial College London conducted a pilot study involving 21 women who had lived with anorexia nervosa for an average of 11 years and had exhausted standard treatments. Each received three oral psilocybin doses—one at 1 mg and two at 25 mg—paired with intensive psychotherapy before and after the sessions. Follow-up assessments showed that, three months post-treatment, roughly half of the participants achieved eating-disorder symptom scores comparable to individuals without anorexia, and they maintained heightened motivation to recover for up to a year.

Participants recounted both distressing visions and profound insights, describing the experience as a catalyst for regaining agency over their illness. Researchers caution that the sample size is tiny and lacks a control group, emphasizing the need for larger randomized trials before clinical adoption. Nonetheless, the findings have sparked interest in expanding psychedelic research to other eating-disorder subtypes and mental-health conditions.