--- title: Psilocybin May Help Treat Alcohol Addiction, Study Shows description: Psilocybin holds promise as a treatment for alcohol use disorder, according to a small study on the psychedelic drug. canonical: https://time.com/6208401/psilocybin-alcohol-addiction-psychedelics/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-08-24T20:23:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:38:48.822Z article:section: Health og:title: Psilocybin May Help Treat Alcohol Addiction, Study Shows og:description: New research finds promise for the psychedelic drug og:url: https://time.com/6208401/psilocybin-alcohol-addiction-psychedelics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt514136176b175430/698a34db4ee26204ac31a852/alcohol-addiction-psilocybin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2120 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: alcohol-addiction-psilocybin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Psilocybin May Help Treat Alcohol Addiction, Study Shows twitter:description: New research finds promise for the psychedelic drug twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt514136176b175430/698a34db4ee26204ac31a852/alcohol-addiction-psilocybin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Psilocybin May Help Treat Alcohol Addiction, Study Shows > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=eda0bd53-b469-43ce-9661-984ca34e4140&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Michael Pollan on the Healing Power of Psychedelics [Watch (HLS stream): Michael Pollan on the Healing Power of Psychedelics](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Z7yskoOT.m3u8) (4:20)  _Published 2018-05-16. Author Michael Pollan explored the therapeutic properties of psychedelics for his latest book, "How to Change Your Mind." His research includes firsthand experiences with the drugs._  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Aug 24, 2022 8:23 PM UTC  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Aug 24, 2022 8:23 PM UTC By the time Jon Kostas was 25, he was desperate to beat his [alcohol addiction](https://time.com/5464477/types-of-alcohol-use-disorder/). He had started drinking at age 13 and had cycled through different treatments—going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, taking pharmaceutical medications, and trying in-patient rehab—but nothing worked. Ever since 2015, however, when he took part in a clinical trial that combined talk therapy and psilocybin—the [psychedelic](https://time.com/6196310/michael-pollan-interview-how-to-change-your-mind/) active ingredient in magic mushrooms—Kostas has quit drinking. “I’m forever grateful and indebted,” he says. “This saved my life.” A randomized clinical trial, published Aug. 24 in the journal [_JAMA Psychiatry_](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.2096?guestAccessKey=ab1fc0a8-8930-47b3-9d4b-831ee984c884&utm%5Fsource=For%5FThe%5FMedia&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=ftm%5Flinks&utm%5Fcontent=tfl&utm%5Fterm=082422), found that in combination with psychotherapy, [psilocybin helped treat people’s alcohol use disorder](https://time.com/6167638/psilocybin-addiction-therapeutic-breakthrough/). Analyzing a group of 93 patients with the condition—Kostas among them— for 32 weeks, researchers found that patients who had received psilocybin plus psychotherapy (48 in total) reduced their drinking by 83% within eight months of their first dose, compared to 51% among those who had received a placebo. Nearly half of people treated with psilocybin stopped drinking completely, compared to less than a quarter of those who’d only received the placebo. “If these effects are replicated, I think this really would represent a breakthrough,” says Dr. Michael Bogenschutz, director of the New York University Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine and the senior author of the study. “The effects seem to persist. And the effects are larger than those of any of the treatments that are currently available,” which includes methods like in-patient rehab, talk therapy, and medications. **Read More**: [_Inside Ibogaine, One of the Most Promising and Perilous Psychedelics for Addiction_](https://time.com/5951772/ibogaine-drug-treatment-addiction/) A more effective treatment for alcohol addiction could have profound, society-wide effects. About 95,000 Americans [die from alcohol-related causes](https://time.com/6178578/alcohol-death-covid-19-pandemic/) each year, including [alcoholic liver disease](https://time.com/5166514/moderate-drinking-live-longer-study/) and car accidents, according to the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://nccd.cdc.gov/DPH%5FARDI/Default/Report.aspx?T=AAM&P=612EF325-9B55-442B-AE0C-789B06E3A8D5&R=C877B524-834A-47D5-964D-158FE519C894&M=DB4DAAC0-C9B3-4F92-91A5-A5781DA85B68&F=&D=). A 2021 federal [analysis](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2781290) of Americans pre-pandemic found that while about 5% of U.S. adults—about 14.1 million people—had alcohol use disorder in the last year, only 7% of them received any treatment, and just under 3% were treated with medication. Even when people receive treatment, however, approved medications such as naltrexone have been shown to only have[ limited effectiveness](https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/related%5Ffiles/alcohol-misuse-drug-therapy%5Fexecutive.pdf). The new research adds the strongest evidence yet that psilocybin may be a promising treatment for substance use disorders. Another preliminary [study](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881114565144?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2003&rfr%5Fid=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr%5Fdat=cr%5Fpub%20%200pubmed) by Bogenschutz and other researchers in 2015 found that psilocybin-assisted therapy seemed to treat alcohol addiction in a small test group of patients. And a small [study](https://time.com/3399433/quit-smoking-psychedelic-drugs-acid-test/) published in[ 2014](https://time.com/3399433/quit-smoking-psychedelic-drugs-acid-test/) by Bogenschutz and some of the same researchers found that psilocybin combined with talk therapy can help people stop smoking. Last year, the team received the first federal grant for a psychedelic treatment in over 50 years to expand that research with a three-year,[ multisite study](https://hub.jhu.edu/2021/10/20/first-nih-grant-for-psychedelics-in-50-years/). Psilocybin’s effectiveness may have to do with how it affects the brain, says Bogenschutz. Research suggests that psilocybin promotes neuroplasticity, which allows people to change the way they think and behave. Researchers have also found that psilocybin helps [treat depression](https://time.com/6208079/psychedelics-psilocybin-access-end-of-life/)—which often occurs alongside substance use disorder. One of the things that makes psilocybin such a promising treatment, says Bogenschutz, is that unlike medications that must be taken over and over again, psilocybin has a long-lasting, powerful effect after just a few doses. “It really suggests that we’re treating the underlying disorder, rather than simply treating the symptoms,” says Bogenschutz. **Read More**: [_How COVID-19 Opened the Door to a New Era in Psychedelic Medicine_](https://time.com/6106152/psychedelic-medicine-health-care-workers/) While the results of this study are encouraging, there’s still a long way to go before psilocybin can be used to treat a wider population. Fewer than 50 patients received psilocybin during the clinical trial, which means more research must be conducted on a larger, diverse population. Plus, the placebo used in the trial, diphenhydramine—an antihistamine—isn’t a perfect substitute for psilocybin, as psychedelic drugs produce unique hallucinogenic effects. Bogenschutz adds that people shouldn’t experiment with psilocybin outside of clinical settings, because it may be more risky in an uncontrolled environment, in part because patients’ experiences can feel extreme. For instance, some patients feel severe anxiety while under the drug’s influence. The study also didn’t include the full range of people who could benefit from psilocybin-assisted treatment. Bogenschutz noted that on average, participants tended to have less severe drinking intensity than people who typically join clinical trials for the condition. (According to Bogenschutz, that’s likely because the trial may have appealed to people who were already coping with their disorder.) The researchers also intentionally excluded patients with other mental health disorders, such as depression, to ensure they could determine whether psilocybin-assisted therapy treats alcohol addiction, and not some other underlying condition. However, Bogenschutz says it’s possible that patients with more severe disease might benefit even more from the treatment, especially if psilocybin can address the problems that underlie not only alcohol use disorder, but also mental-health issues like [depression and anxiety](https://time.com/4586702/magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-depression/), and even other kinds of substance use disorders. “People with co-occurring disorders and addictions might be an ideal population for this kind of treatment, because they might be able to benefit simultaneously for both disorders,” he says. Their hope is that “this more flexible pattern of brain function allows people to change their thoughts and behaviors in ways that allow them to be happier, healthier, people.” ## Transcript I guess the biggest misconception people have about psychedelics is that these are drugs that make you crazy. And we now have evidence that that does happen sometimes, but in many more cases, these are drugs that can make you sane, or more sane. [ MUSIC ] If you ask people about what psychedelics, or LSD, they're gonna think about the Timothy Leary, this flamboyant psychology professor. Studying psilocybin and LSD and then telling everybody they should take it. I'm very glad to be discredited, I don't want credibility. I want incredibility. [ LAUGH ] The drugs kind of escape laboratory and were embraced by the counter culture and proved to be very disruptive to society [ MUSIC ] So you had this full scale moral panic that eventually doomed the research but what people don't know is that that's 60s episode was really one small chapter in a much longer story. Psycho drugs are one kind of another have been used by different societies for thousands of years. If you compare mental health care with any other branch of medicine infectious disease, cardiology, oncology there have been very few achievements. Mental health treatment has not lengthened the human life span. So we need some new thinking, we need some new ideas and psychedelics may well be that new idea. There's a really exciting field of research underway, right now, looking at psychedelics. Especially psilocybin, the ingredient in magic mushrooms, to help people deal with mental illness of various kinds. Addiction, depression, obsession, and the fear and anxiety that surrounds a terminal diagnosis. And the feeling among the scientist is that these chemicals allow us to essentially reboot the brain. All those kind of deep grooves that lock us into patterns of both thought and behavior are dissolved and temporarily suspended in a way that allows us to break those patterns. We're now in a different world. The adults now, many of them have experience of psychedelics, they're not gonna react in such a panicky way, I don't think. Many of the people in charge of our institutions, probably regulators at the FDA, people at the American Psychiatric Association, they have personal experience of psychedelics. And they're, I think, gonna bring a more rational, Attitude toward them. I learned that there is a thriving underground of psychedelic therapists. These are serious professionals but they're doing something illegal. And I was able to find my way into this. Community and after interviewing several of them I found a couple people I felt comfortable enough to entrust my mind to. This isn't doctors giving you a pill and sending you out into the world. You are, for a period of four or five hours, in a room that's decorated like a kind of cozy den or study, you're lying down on a couch, you have eye shades on. And headphones, which are playing a very carefully curated playlist, to make you go inside, to have an internal experience. And you're with two guides at all times. Some people are put in touch with childhood trauma. Some people have encounters with death and I mean, it can be very dark. But with the help of the guides, you use that material and try to understand it. So after the session, you always come back the next day and have what's called a period of integration. Where the guides, who are trained therapists, help you interpret what happened and figure out ways to put it to good use in changing your life. My best journey was this fairly high dose [ INAUDIBLE ] journey. I had with a guide. What was stunning about it was I did have an experience of ego disillusion. I reached a point where myself kind of fell apart into these paper post its. That just got scattered into the wind. I saw myself. And I know that sounds weird. Who's the I that saw myself, but there is this split in consciousness that happens. But I saw myself scattered to the wind, but I was all right with it and I learned a really important lesson in that moment, which is that I'm not identical to my ego. 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