November 2025
PHOTO: Canva
Nearly half of health care workers who struggled from burnout and depression during the Covid pandemic found relief from psychedelics and mindfulness in group therapy, according to a new study.
The results add evidence for the effectiveness and also efficiency of such group therapy, a model being explored by the Huntsman Mental Health Institute at University of Utah Health.
The clinical use of psychedelics to treat depression has proven effective in multiple studies over years. Mindfulness training and meditation also improve mental health, according to research. Some studies have combined the approaches.
But often the protocols for such treatments require a ratio of two therapists for each patient. Scaling up the treatment for the general population, therefore, is challenging. The Utah medical school research group has been investigating similar therapy in group sessions.
When the Covid pandemic struck, the Utah researchers saw the opportunity to test their model close to home: a hospital where nurses working directly with Covid patients were overworked, and overwhelmed mentally.
A select group of 25 frontline healthcare workers were administered a single dose of psilocybin in a controlled clinical setting, and also given eight weeks of mindfulness training. A second group completed the mindfulness training alone.
Nearly half (46 percent) the nurses who received psilocybin and mindfulness training were depression-free after two weeks. They also felt less emotionally exhausted and more connected to others. Only eight percent of the healthcare workers who received mindfulness practices alone felt equal relief. The mental health benefits last up to six months for workers who received psilocybin and mindfulness training. Participants were enrolled between January 2023 and January 2024.
Benjamin Lewis, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah and the lead researcher for the study, has said a sense of disconnection and alienation is a cause of widespread depression in the U.S. That was amplified during the pandemic, especially among frontline healthcare workers.
A single dose of psilocybin can produce profound mystical experiences, and a sense of re-connection with the universe and the sacred, Lewis and other researchers have found. Advanced meditators can have similar experiences.
In fact, mindfulness and psychedelics appear to activate overlapping brain circuits, the Utah study reported. Psychedelic experiences may deepen or help cultivate mindfulness skills, some researchers theorize. Combining psychedelic therapy with mindfulness training also may make benefits last longer.
The peer-reviewed research was first reported 19 September in PLOS Medicine, and was publicized by Huntsman Mental Health Institute on 22 October.
Written by Tom Zolper
Edited by Anders Bolling
