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In a nationally representative study on psilocybin use and mental health treatment, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have found that among people with depression, those who use psilocybin pursue mental health care at rates similar to those of nonusers.

However, they report higher unmet needs for mental health care services, suggesting that while people may seek out psilocybin as an alternative or adjunct to traditional therapy, they are not looking to replace it entirely. The results are published online in the journal Psychological Medicine.

"Our main takeaway is that among people with depression, those using psilocybin aren't abandoning conventional mental health care, which is good news," said Avery Eun, first author of the study and a second-year medical student at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

"But what is interesting is that even though they use mental health care at the same rate as nonusers, they still feel that their needs aren't being met, which gives us an opportunity to better understand those unmet needs so we can help these patients."

, concerns have grown among mental health care professionals that individuals may forgo supervised mental health care in favor of self-medicating with psilocybin. Until now, there were no nationally representative studies to determine if this trend was actually occurring among those with depression.

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