A Swiss university hospital’s new psychedelic therapy depression study reported that routine-care patients treated with LSD- or psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy between May 2024 and October 2025 had significantly lower depression and anxiety symptoms after treatment. The peer-reviewed paper, published in Psychiatry Research in April 2026, analyzed outcomes from 115 adults in a compassionate-use program.
The study did not announce an approved medical use. Swiss professional guidance still says there is no approved indication to date for psychedelic therapy, even though case-by-case compassionate-use access has been possible since 2014.
Swiss hospital data shows psychedelic therapy was linked to reduced depression
According to the Psychiatry Research paper, depressive and anxiety symptoms in the 115-patient cohort significantly decreased over time. The patients were adults with treatment-resistant depressive and/or anxiety disorders treated in a specialized Swiss hospital program.
The outcome window was short but concrete. Symptoms were measured at screening, one month before treatment, and again one to three months after treatment.
PsyPost, which summarized the paper on May 9, reported that more than a third of patients saw depressive symptoms cut by at least half. That figure comes from the secondary report and should be read as its summary of the study rather than a regulator or hospital claim.
The study used LSD or psilocybin in routine psychiatric care
The psychedelic therapy depression cohort received a first standardized cycle of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy using either 100 micrograms of LSD or 25 milligrams of psilocybin, according to the paper and PsyPost’s dosing summary. The journal abstract says there was no main effect of substance on clinical outcomes, meaning the two drugs were associated with similar symptom changes in this group.
The hospital setting matters here because this was not a lab-only protocol. The Geneva University Hospital model paper says the institution began this clinical activity in 2021 for treatment-resistant patients, operating under Swiss exceptional-use rules.
That gives the paper a different texture from a tightly screened trial. It is reporting what happened in a functioning hospital program, not just in an experimental research unit. For readers following adjacent clinical tooling debates, NovaKnown has covered how evidence gets weighed in other health settings in AI in healthcare.
The paper was observational, not a placebo-controlled trial
The psychedelic therapy depression paper was a retrospective observational analysis of routine clinical data. It was not randomized, and it did not include a placebo control group.
That puts a ceiling on what the result can say. The paper supports an association between the hospital program and symptom reductions in treatment-resistant patients, but it does not test causation the way a blinded controlled trial is meant to.
The same abstract also reports no serious complications or treatment discontinuations and describes the treatment as well tolerated. Those safety findings are from this cohort and this program, over the reported follow-up window.
Swiss guidance and hospital practice provide clinical context
Swiss Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy guidance, approved in May 2024 and updated in September 2024, says psychedelic therapy has been available in Switzerland since 2014 on a case-by-case compassionate-use basis. The same document says there is still no approved indication to date.
The guidance also describes the kind of patients being considered: people with treatment resistance in conditions including depression and anxiety disorders. It notes that onset can be rapid, often in less than 24 hours, and that effects can last days to months after one or two doses.
The Geneva model paper adds the regulatory mechanics. Treatments required supervision and authorization from the Federal Office of Public Health, rather than ordinary prescribing. That is the official setting around this psychedelic therapy depression program: real hospital use, but still exceptional-use medicine.
Swissinfo previously described Geneva University Hospital as the only place in Switzerland offering psychedelic treatment in a large medical environment at the time of its reporting. The same reporting also cited patient-group accounts that some people saw no benefit or reported new trauma, adding non-trial context around variability in outcomes.
For readers tracking how mental-health findings are discussed more broadly, NovaKnown has also written about psychiatric outcomes.
Key Takeaways
- A Swiss hospital study of 115 routine-care patients found depression and anxiety symptoms decreased after psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
- The cohort included adults with treatment-resistant depressive and/or anxiety disorders treated between May 2024 and October 2025.
- Patients received either 100 µg LSD or 25 mg psilocybin; the paper reported no main outcome difference between the two substances.
- The study was observational and retrospective, not a randomized placebo-controlled trial.
- Swiss guidance still says psychedelic therapy has no approved indication to date, despite compassionate-use access since 2014.
Further Reading
- Real-world effectiveness and safety of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: Outcomes from a large-scale compassionate use cohort in Switzerland, The primary peer-reviewed study reporting outcomes from 115 Swiss patients.
- Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy (PAP): the Geneva University Hospital model, Institutional details on how the Geneva hospital program was organized and regulated.
- Swiss Treatment Recommendations for Psychedelic Therapy (English Version), Swiss professional guidance on compassionate use, indications, and clinical practice.
- Real world outcomes support the benefits of psychedelic therapy for severe depression, A secondary report summarizing the study’s dosing and follow-up window.