Source: Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Monday, August 3, 2026
Psilocybin therapy may offer hope for people with anorexia nervosa, new research reveals.
A groundbreaking study has found psilocybin therapy can lead to sustained improvements in anorexia symptoms and recovery motivation for up to a year.
Dr Hannah Douglass led the study during her PhD at Imperial College London before taking up a postdoctoral fellowship at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.
The study involved 21 females diagnosed with anorexia nervosa who received psilocybin therapy over six weeks alongside extensive psychological support.
“Greater motivation to recover was one of the most significant findings because anorexia often becomes deeply embedded in a person’s sense of identity. It initially develops as an important coping mechanism,” Douglass says.
“For many people, that makes the condition hard to let go of, so seeing motivation to recover increase and, for some, endure for 12 months, was particularly promising.”
One finding surprised her. Participants experienced meaningful improvements after receiving an initial one-milligram dose intended as a placebo.
“We went into the study hypothesising that we would see greater improvements after the 25-milligram doses because that’s where the therapeutic effect was expected based on previous literature, but we actually saw equivalent improvements after the one-milligram placebo,” Douglass says.
“If people improved after a placebo dose due to the level of care they received, and the space they were given to talk openly about difficult feelings underlying their anorexia, that’s something we need more of in conventional treatment, which is often limited by clinician capacity and funding for treatment.”
The behaviour of some participants changed dramatically as they progressed through the treatment. Some even started asking for foods they had been unable to eat for years.
“The fact that they were finally able to request and eat these foods may sound like a small thing, but it was huge.
“I remember the team would meet afterwards and all of us would be quite emotional. We had facilitated that and knew how much it meant.”
Participants still update researchers on their lives after the study. One participant has gone on to become a mother, a milestone made especially significant by the impact eating disorders can have on fertility, Douglass says.
The research is personal for Douglass, who lived with anorexia nervosa from the age of 13 to 19.
The illness developed as a coping mechanism for difficult emotions she had no way to process and a perceived lack of control over her environment, she says.
A conversation with her grandmother marked a turning point in her recovery.
“My nan broke down one day and said she couldn’t bear the thought that I was going to die before her,” Douglass says.
“Something just switched in my brain, and I suddenly had this motivation. I wasn’t going to put my nan through that distress.”
Douglass says she has now been in recovery from anorexia nervosa for more than a decade.
She hopes the findings reassure others living with anorexia.
“You absolutely can recover, and there is hope,” she says.
“There’s support when you are ready, people who care and are working hard to improve treatments.”
The anorexia research also sparked Douglass’s interest in the links between eating disorders and menstrual cycle-related conditions.
She is investigating premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a severe condition characterised by intense psychological symptoms linked to the menstrual cycle, and exploring its relationship with disordered eating.
“For eating disorders and PMDD, it can often take people a while to recognise either condition. There is limited research funding available, and there are few treatment options that are both effective and acceptable for patients,” Douglass says.
“If there’s a connection between these conditions in the brain, I think this needs to be considered and built into treatment.”
Douglass is coordinating research led by Professor Suresh Muthukumaraswamy from the University’s School of Pharmacy and Dr Rachael Sumner, now a senior lecturer at AUT. The study, Investigating menstrual cycle-dependent brain activity changes in premenstrual dysphoric disorder, will compare people with PMDD and menstruating people without the condition to identify differences in brain activity across the menstrual cycle.
“PMDD isn’t a hormone disorder because hormone levels are normal,” Muthukumaraswamy says. “The evidence suggests it’s the brain responding differently to normal hormonal changes.”
The team hopes to identify biomarkers that could improve diagnosis and guide the development of new treatments.
“There’s still far too little research into PMDD,” he says. “Many women wait years for recognition and support. Better understanding of the condition is the first step toward improving care.”
Psilocybin therapy for adult females with anorexia nervosa: pilot study, was published online in The British Journal of Psychiatry.