Research & Studies
Every summary states the finding and the limitation. Early promising results are not proof, and we won't present them that way.
British Journal of Sports Medicine umbrella review
A review of many previous reviews looked at physical activity for depression, anxiety and distress.
Findings
Physical activity was associated with meaningful reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms across populations.
Limitations
Wide variation in study quality and in how activity was measured.
Meta-analytic literature
Researchers pooled trials of slow, paced breathing techniques.
Findings
Slow-breathing practices showed small to moderate reductions in self-reported anxiety and improvements in heart-rate variability.
Limitations
Short interventions, small samples and limited blinding.
Imperial College London / Compass Pathways trials
A clinical trial gave supervised psilocybin alongside psychological support to people whose depression had not responded to other treatments.
Findings
A single 25mg supervised dose was associated with a larger short-term reduction in depression scores than a 1mg comparison dose.
Limitations
Short follow-up, small numbers, participants often guessed which group they were in, and adverse events including suicidal ideation were recorded in some participants.
NYU Langone
A randomised trial paired psychotherapy with either supervised psilocybin or an active placebo for people with alcohol use disorder.
Findings
The psilocybin group reported fewer heavy drinking days over the follow-up period.
Limitations
Modest sample, difficulty blinding, and all sessions occurred with extensive professional support that unsupervised use does not replicate.
Imperial College London
A large self-blinded citizen-science study compared people taking microdoses with people unknowingly taking placebo.
Findings
Both groups improved on wellbeing measures, and the differences between real microdoses and placebo were largely explained by expectation.
Limitations
Self-selected participants, self-reported outcomes, and non-standardised dosing.
Published trials and where to follow the science as it happens.
COMPASS Pathways — Phase 2b trial
The largest psilocybin trial to date (233 participants) found a single 25mg dose with psychological support significantly reduced depression scores vs. 1mg at 3 weeks. Phase 3 trials are ongoing.
Visit sourceImperial College London — NEJM
A double-blind trial comparing psilocybin to a leading SSRI. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Read the full paper for the nuances — the headlines oversimplified it.
Visit sourceMAPS — Phase 3 trials
Phase 3 results published in Nature Medicine. Note: the FDA did not approve MDMA-assisted therapy in 2024 and requested additional research — a reminder that this field is still evolving.
Visit sourceJohns Hopkins University
The leading academic centre in the US, running studies on psilocybin for depression, smoking cessation, Alzheimer's, anorexia and more. Their site lists active trials and publications.
Visit sourceJohns Hopkins pilot study
A small open-label pilot found 80% of participants abstinent at 6 months — remarkable for a treatment-resistant population. Small sample, no control group, but it opened the door to larger trials.
Visit sourceImperial College London
One of the largest placebo-controlled microdosing studies found that expectation effects may explain many reported benefits. Essential reading before taking microdosing claims at face value.
Visit sourceUS National Library of Medicine
The official registry of clinical trials. Search 'psilocybin', 'MDMA' or 'ketamine' to see every registered study — recruiting, active and completed — so you can follow the science yourself.
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