Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40420197›Full record

ArticleJournal of eating disorders2025

Therapeutic emergence of dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa.

Stephanie Knatz Peck, Timothy D Brewerton, Hannah Fisher, Julie Trim, Samantha Shao, Nadav Liam Modlin, Jessie Kim, Daphna M Finn, Walter H Kaye

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Article in Journal of eating disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Stephanie Knatz PeckDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. sknatz@health.ucsd.edu.
Timothy D BrewertonDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
Hannah FisherDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Julie TrimDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Samantha ShaoDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Nadav Liam ModlinKing's College, London, England.
Jessie KimDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Daphna M FinnDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
Walter H KayeDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.

Funding

Compass Pathways n/a
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPsychedelic treatment is a rapidly emerging therapeutic approach for a host of chronic, difficult to treat psychiatric disorders, including anorexia nervosa (AN). Trauma and its sequelae, such as dissociation, often contribute to comorbidity and treatment refractoriness.

aimsIn this report, we describe the therapeutic emergence of previously dissociated traumatic memories of sexual assault in 2 of 10 research participants with AN while receiving psilocybin treatment.

methodsTen female adults who met DSM-5 criteria for AN or pAN (partial remission) participated in an open pilot study evaluating the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. Participants received a 25-mg dose of investigational drug COMP360, a proprietary pharmaceutical-grade synthetic psilocybin formulation developed by COMPASS Pathfinder Ltd. administered in conjunction with psychological support. Participants also received two integration therapy sessions on days 1 and 7 after dosing, and they were reassessed at 1 and 3 months. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview to understand qualitative perspectives of treatment and its effect on AN. RESULTS/OUTCOMES: Both patients described in this report significantly benefited from the emergence and processing of previously dissociated information (dissociative amnesia), and both patients subsequently attained remission of their AN psychopathology at 3-month follow-up as determined by global scores on the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and clinically meaningful weight gain. CONCLUSIONS/

interpretationPT may hold promise not only in the treatment of eating disorders but also trauma-related disorders, including PTSD and dissociative amnesia. Potential mechanisms of psilocybin's facilitation of remembering and processing traumatic material is reviewed.

Indexed as

Anorexia nervosaDissociative amnesiaEating disordersMemoryPsilocybinPsychotherapyPTSD

Identifiers

PMID40420197
PMCPMC12105274

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.