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CompletedPhase 3Results posted

Frontline Clinician Psilocybin Study

NCT05163496 · University of Washington

Closed to entry
Status
Not accepting participants
Phase 3
Phase
30
Target enrolment
1
Study sites
1 US states

What it is testing

Summary

This study aims to investigate the effects of a single dose of psilocybin, delivered in the contextof pre- and post-dose psychotherapy, on symptoms of depression and burnout suffered by healthcare clinicians as a result of frontline work in the COVID pandemic.

Summary as written by the trial’s own sponsor and published on ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. It is the sponsor’s description, reproduced unedited, not an assessment by this site.

What counts as success

Primary outcome measures

  • Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale

    Measured over 4-weeks post psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy

A trial succeeds or fails on its primary outcome, declared in advance. Everything else it reports is secondary by definition.

Who can take part

Eligibility, as published

18 Years
Ages
All
Sex
Not accepted
Healthy volunteers
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Participants must be physicians or nurses with at least 1 month of frontline clinical experience during the COVID pandemic who rate at least 2 of 4 items from the COVID Exposure index as 'more than half the days' during their peak 2 week period of exposure: i. Caring for someone critically ill with COVID-19, or who became critically ill while you were involved; ii. Working longer hours than usual in order to provide assistance or care to individuals with COVID-19; iii. Witnessing or responding to a death related to COVID-19, or losing a patient you had been caring for to COVID-19; iv. Caring for patients who have died without family physically present due to COVID-19 precautions 2. Have a Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) clinician-administered depression score \>21, indicating moderately severe symptoms. 3. Have had persistent symptoms despite at least one medication and/or therapy trial of standard care treatment for depression. 4. English speaking - able to understand the process of consent and the risk and benefits associated with the study, and able to give written informed consent. 5. Must be willing to sign a medical release for the investigators to communicate directly with their therapist and doctors to confirm a medication and/or medical history. This is decided on a case-by-case basis upon the discretion of the PI. 6. Must be driven home after the medication dosing session by a driver (which could be a friend, family, rideshare or taxi). 7. Must provide at least one adult to have continuous contact with the participant, provide participant transportation, monitor changes in the participant's behavior, and notify research staff of behavior changes. 8. Has been off selective serotonin inhibitors (SSRIs) for at least five half-lives of the drug plus 2 weeks. 9. Must avoid taking any psychiatric medications or starting a new psychiatric medication during the study. Should participant's doctor recommend starting a new psychiatric medication, participant will be required to notify the study team and the subject would withdraw from the study 10. Must provide a contact (relative, spouse, close friend or other caregiver) who is willing and able to be reached by the Clinical Investigators in the event of a participant becoming suicidal. 11. If able to bear children, must have a negative pregnancy test at study entry. 12. Are willing to commit to preparation sessions, medication dosing sessions, integration sessions, to complete evaluation instruments and commit to be contacted for all necessary telephone contacts. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Personal or immediate family history of schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, delusion disorder, paranoid disorder, or schizoaffective disorder. 2. Suicidal ideation with a Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) \> 3 3. Current substance abuse disorder (except in the case of mild alcohol use ) 4. Neuroleptic and SSRI medications that cannot be tapered and discontinued in conjunction with the participant's prescribing physician. 5. Unstable neurological or medical condition; history of seizure, chronic/severe headaches. 6. Positive urine pregnancy test at the time of screening 7. Any unstable medical condition that my render study procedures unsafe. 8. Any use of psychedelic drugs within the prior 12 months. 9. Use of tramadol, due to the potential for serotonin syndrome with concomitant use of psilocybin.

Where

1 study site

FacilityCityRegionCountry
University of WashingtonSeattleWashingtonUnited States

On the registry

Contact the trial directly

This site does not enrol anyone and is not involved in this trial. To ask about taking part, use the sponsor’s own contact details on the official registry record, which is also where the most current version of everything above lives.

Before you do, the preparation checklist lists what a site will ask you on a first call and what is worth asking them. It is free and collects nothing.

NCT05163496 on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Last updated in the registry 2025-03-18. Registry records change; this page reflects the data build of 2026-08-25.

Related

Where this trial sits