Clinical Evidence on Psilocybin and Its Representation in Media Reporting: A Systematic Review

Importance: Psilocybin has received increased attention as a potential therapeutic intervention, but it is unclear whether news media reporting reflects the strengths and limitations of the clinical trial evidence.

Objective

To describe the annual counts of published clinical trials of therapeutic psilocybin and contemporaneous media articles and compare tone, efficacy, and safety messaging. Evidence review: This systematic review included English-language randomized and nonrandomized trials of psilocybin for clinical indications published from January 1, 2014, to October 10, 2024, and media articles describing its clinical use published from January 1, 2014, to April 22, 2025. Trials were found by searching Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and were characterized by design, indication, use of psychotherapy, and reporting of efficacy and safety. Media articles were found through the Factiva database and were characterized by audience, tone, indication, efficacy claim, and safety content. Data were extracted by 2 reviewers. Risk of bias for randomized clinical trials was assessed descriptively using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.