{"id":13083,"date":"2022-08-25T11:11:05","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T11:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/25\/psychedelics-help-people-with-alcoholism-drink-less\/"},"modified":"2022-08-25T11:11:05","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T11:11:05","slug":"psychedelics-help-people-with-alcoholism-drink-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/25\/psychedelics-help-people-with-alcoholism-drink-less\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychedelics help people with alcoholism drink less"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/24\/23319779\/psychedelics-mushrooms-alcoholism-treatment<\/a>
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A combination of psychedelics and therapy appears to help people with alcoholism cut down on the number of days per month they drink heavily, according to a new study<\/a>. Researchers used psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, to treat patients over eight months and saw a dramatic improvement in participants\u2019 drinking habits. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say it saved my life,\u201d study participant Jon Kostas, who took psilocybin as part of the trial, said during a press briefing. He\u2019d tried Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, rehab, different specialists \u2014 nothing helped. \u201cThis eliminated all my cravings to the point where it cured my alcoholism. And I don\u2019t categorize myself as an alcoholic anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using psychedelics as treatments for alcoholism was a popular idea in the 1960s and 1970s, and studies on LSD found that it reduced alcohol misuse. But the approach went quiet in the decades after, according to an editorial<\/a> published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry<\/em> alongside the new study. <\/p>\n

The new research marks a \u201crekindling of interest,\u201d the authors of the editorial wrote. The study included 93 people with alcohol dependence. In the 12 weeks leading up to the study, the participants drank alcohol an average of around 60 days. Of those 60 drinking days, about half were heavy drinking days \u2014 defined as five or more drinks a day for a man and four or more drinks in a day for a woman.<\/p>\n

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