Patients with alcohol use disorder frequently display unusual personality traits, characterized by increased impulsivity and lack of emotional stability, alongside lower levels of cooperativeness and self-discipline. Researchers posit that these traits fuel the addiction cycle and hinder the effectiveness of treatments.
Now a new study has determined that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy can induce positive changes in the personalities of individuals with alcohol use disorder. The researchers theorized that the personality changes triggered by psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy could help individuals recovering from alcohol dependence to endure stressors that cause relapses, given the association between impulsiveness, excessive drinking, and relapses.
They also cited prior studies that’d shown that psychedelics could improve mental health and induce huge shifts in personality.
For their study, the researchers conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to explore how psilocybin therapy influenced the personality traits of alcohol use disorder patients. The trial had eighty-four participants who received 2 doses of active placebo or psilocybin, four weeks apart. The drugs were administered alongside three months of psychotherapy.
Once this was done, each participant was followed for a 9-month period. The researchers used the revised self-report NEO Personality Inventory to measure changes in personality from baseline to the 9-month mark. This system is based on the 5-factor model of personality, which includes agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, and neuroticism.
The researchers determined that on average, participants were alcohol-dependent for 31.56 years. They also met 5.25 criteria for alcohol dependence and averaged 52.5% heavy drinking days in the last month.
The researchers also observed that while both groups appeared similar for age, annual income, ethnicity, weight, and gender at baseline, the placebo group ranked higher in openness and the psilocybin group ranked higher in conscientiousness. They also determined that the psilocybin group experienced increased openness and extraversion and reduced neuroticism.
Further analysis demonstrated that growth in openness was prompted by increases in feelings and fantasy while decreases in neuroticism were triggered by reductions in vulnerability, impulsiveness, and depression. In addition to this, the researchers found that men experienced a considerable increase in extraversion while women experienced substantial increases in openness and conscientiousness.
In their report, the researchers noted that psilocybin-assisted therapy could help improve long-term outcomes by limiting traits that inspired relapses, like impulsiveness. However, they added, additional research was needed to shed light on the reasons behind these variations and their clinical implications. The study’s findings were reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
As more entities like Mind Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: MNMD) (NEO: MMED) (DE: MMQ) conduct R&D programs aimed at leveraging the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics like psilocybin, a lot more could be uncovered about how these substances can help to treat any health conditions that have defied conventional medications.
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