A clinical trial conducted at Sheppard Pratt and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry provides early evidence that psilocybin-assisted therapy may offer rapid relief for individuals experiencing chronic suicidal ideation resistant to conventional treatments. The open-label trial, led by Scott T. Aaronson, MD, chief science officer at Sheppard Pratt, and Andrew van der Vaart, MD, PhD, examined the efficacy and safety of a single psilocybin dose in combination with psychological support.
The study enrolled 20 adults with major depressive disorder and chronic suicidal ideation who had failed at least two prior antidepressant treatments. Participants received a single 25-mg dose of COMP360 psilocybin within a structured therapeutic protocol including preparation, supervised administration, and integration sessions. Over the 12-week follow-up period, researchers documented statistically significant reductions in suicidal ideation as early as one week following treatment, with improvements sustained throughout. By week 12, 70% of participants reported minimal or no suicidal ideation. Participants also experienced significant reductions in depressive symptoms across all post-treatment assessments, and no serious adverse events were reported during the trial.
This research addresses a critical gap in psychiatric treatment. “Chronic suicidality remains one of the most difficult symptoms to treat in psychiatry, particularly for patients who have not responded to conventional therapies,” Dr. Aaronson noted. Dr. van der Vaart added that “individuals living with chronic suicidal ideation are frequently excluded from psychedelic clinical trials, despite having a significant unmet need for new treatment options.” The study represents among the first prospective clinical trials to specifically evaluate psilocybin-assisted therapy in this population.
Researchers emphasized that findings, while promising, require larger randomized controlled trials to further evaluate efficacy, durability, and long-term safety. The trial was conducted under U.S. Food and Drug Administration Investigational New Drug authorization and approved by the Sheppard Pratt Institutional Review Board. The study appears in the June 2026 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
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