Kingston doctor hopes trial will help patients with anxiety

Participants will be given non-hallucinogenic/micro-dose levels of psilocybin as part of study.

A Kingston physician is working on a way to take the "magic" out of treating people anxiety.

Dr. Claudio Soares is leading a trial at Kingston Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (KHSC-RI). He is also a professor of Psychiatry at Queen’s University, and director of the Centre for Psychedelic Health and Research at Providence Care.

KHSC-RI recently received approval from Health Canada to use non-hallucinogenic/micro-dose levels of psilocybin (AKA magic mushrooms) to treat Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Soares says up to 60 adults between 18 and 60 years of age will be chosen to take part in the trial for a period of four weeks.

GAD affects roughly five per cent of Canadian adults, over 1.6 million people.

Soares says the objective of this trial is to explore the use of psilocybin can effectively treat symptoms of GAD without the hallucinogenic effects that are associated with the drug.

Soares says the type of psilocybin they will be using is quite different than ones used for recreational purposes.

There is also the issue of where KHSC will be getting their magic mushrooms from. 

Soares says they deal with a company that supplies them with the psilocybin adding it is not as simple as going to a store when supplies run out.

Those interested in taking part in the trail can email the research institute directly. 

The study is supported by grant from the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization (SEAMO) and funding from Diamond Therapeutics.

Story by Ken Hashizume