A pilot study by the Center for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, published on July 8, 2026, suggests that psilocybin— the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms —may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of anorexia nervosa when combined with psychotherapy.
A disease for which there is no effective treatment
Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder with the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses, and for which available treatments remain limited and are often ineffective. The study involved 21 women with an average of 11 years of illness, who had not achieved sustained results with previous treatments. The average age was 32 years, with an average body mass index of 16.4 kg/m²—below the threshold considered healthy.
How was the study conducted?
Over the course of six weeks, the participants received three oral doses of psilocybin—an initial low dose and two high doses of 25 mg, administered two weeks apart—flanked by extended psychotherapy sessions before and after each administration. To monitor the long-term impact, the participants were assessed two weeks, three months, six months, and one year after the last session.
Encouraging results, with due caution
Although no significant changes in body mass index were observed—which was expected given the short monitoring period—symptoms of the eating disorder decreased at all assessment time points. Almost all participants (18 out of 21) showed improvements two weeks after the last session, and 48% had scores comparable to those of someone without an eating disorder at the three-month mark. Motivation for recovery increased and remained steady for one year.
Psilocybin demonstrated a favorable safety profile, with headache and nausea as the most common adverse effects. One participant withdrew from the study after the second dose. The researchers also recorded serious adverse events in one participant during the follow-up period, which were evaluated by the clinical investigators and deemed unrelated to the psilocybin intervention—noting that this patient population is, in and of itself, at high risk for suicidal behavior.
The clinical context is a determining factor
The researchers emphasize that this is a small-scale, preliminary study without a control group, and that the results warrant larger and more rigorous studies. They also stress that psychedelic therapies should always be designed and conducted by experienced healthcare professionals in a structured clinical setting and with psychotherapeutic support.
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