Short answer
Beyond depression, psilocybin has small studies or strong anecdotal reports for cluster headaches, migraine, OCD, anorexia, and a few other conditions. None of these uses is proven. The studies are tiny, often lack placebo groups, and haven't been replicated at scale. Claims about ADHD, dementia, and chronic pain rest mostly on personal reports or animal research.
Key takeaways
- Important: none of the uses on this page is proven or approved. Treat them as research questions, not treatments.
- Cluster headaches have the most interesting mix of strong patient reports and small controlled trials.
- OCD and anorexia have tiny pilot studies with encouraging but preliminary results.
- ADHD, dementia, and chronic pain claims are mostly anecdote or animal data so far.
Cluster headaches
What people report: Cluster headaches cause excruciating attacks around one eye, often several a day for weeks. For years, patients have reported that psilocybin can stop an attack cycle or push it into remission. In a 2006 survey published in Neurology, 53 cluster headache patients described their experiences with psilocybin or LSD, and most of the psilocybin users said it aborted attacks or extended remission periods.1
What trials show: At Yale, a small randomized, placebo-controlled trial tested three doses spaced about five days apart. In the blinded extension phase, weekly attacks dropped from about 18 to about 10, nearly a 50% reduction, though some results didn't reach statistical significance and only 10 people completed that phase.2
Verdict: The most compelling of the unproven uses. Still unproven.
Migraine
In a small controlled study of 10 people with migraine, a single dose of psilocybin reduced migraine days in the following week compared with placebo, without the person needing to have a strong psychedelic experience.3 Interesting. Ten people. Larger trials are needed.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
A 2006 University of Arizona pilot gave psilocybin to 9 people with treatment-resistant OCD and saw symptoms drop, sometimes for days after a session.4 There was no placebo group and the sample was tiny. Researchers have since launched larger studies, but there's no definitive answer yet.
Anorexia nervosa
A 2023 feasibility study in Nature Medicine gave a single dose of psilocybin with psychological support to 10 women with anorexia. It was safe and well tolerated, and four participants showed meaningful drops in eating disorder symptoms at three months.5 That's a signal worth chasing, from a study designed to test safety, not effectiveness.
ADHD, focus, and productivity
Almost all of this comes from microdosing reports. When researchers ran a clever placebo-controlled study where people blinded their own microdoses, improvements in mood and wellbeing showed up about equally in the placebo group.6 Expectation is powerful. See microdosing psilocybin.
Dementia, brain injury, and chronic pain
These claims usually trace back to psilocybin's effects on neuroplasticity. In mice, a single dose increased the number of connections between neurons, and many lasted a month.7 That's a fascinating reason to study psilocybin in brain disorders. It's not evidence that psilocybin treats any of them in people. Treat any product or retreat making these claims with heavy skepticism.
How to read claims like these
- Look for a control group. Without one, you can't separate the drug from expectation or natural recovery.
- Check the sample size. Ten people can't establish a treatment.
- Follow the money. Retreats and product sellers have obvious incentives.
- Search ClinicalTrials.gov. If a condition is promising, someone is probably studying it, and you might qualify.
For the conditions with stronger evidence, see what psilocybin can treat.
Common questions
Why do people with cluster headaches use psilocybin?
Cluster headaches are among the most painful conditions known, and existing treatments don't work for everyone. Patient communities have reported for years that psilocybin can interrupt attack cycles, often at doses that don't cause a strong trip. Small trials are now testing that, with mixed but intriguing results.
Does psilocybin help ADHD?
There's no good clinical evidence yet. Most claims come from microdosing surveys, which can't separate real effects from expectation. Placebo-controlled microdosing studies have generally found effects similar to placebo.
Should I try psilocybin for a condition on this list?
Talk to your doctor and look for a clinical trial first. Several of these conditions are being studied right now, and a trial gives you measured doses, medical screening, and supervision.
Sources
- Sewell RA, Halpern JH, Pope HG Jr. Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD. Neurology. 2006. doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000219761.05466.43
- Schindler EAD, et al. Psilocybin pulse regimen reduces cluster headache attack frequency in the blinded extension phase of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the Neurological Sciences. 2024. doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2024.122993
- Schindler EAD, et al. Exploratory controlled study of the migraine-suppressing effects of psilocybin. Neurotherapeutics. 2021. doi.org/10.1007/s13311-020-00962-y
- Moreno FA, et al. Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of psilocybin in 9 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2006. doi.org/10.4088/JCP.v67n1110
- Peck SK, et al. Psilocybin therapy for females with anorexia nervosa: a phase 1, open-label feasibility study. Nature Medicine. 2023. doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02455-9
- Szigeti B, et al. Self-blinding citizen science to explore psychedelic microdosing. eLife. 2021. doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62878
- Shao LX, et al. Psilocybin induces rapid and persistent growth of dendritic spines in frontal cortex in vivo. Neuron. 2021. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.008
The uses described on this page are not proven or approved. Nothing here is a recommendation to use psilocybin for any condition. Psilocybin is a Schedule I substance under U.S. federal law. Talk with a licensed clinician, and consider a clinical trial, before making decisions about your health. In a crisis, call or text 988.