Palliative care patients approaching the end-of-life experience severe psychological distress. Amongst many symptoms, this represents a state of intimate and deep suffering that is characterized by depression, (death) anxiety, disconnection, a lack of meaning, and feeling like being a burden to their family. This significantly decreases their quality of life and limits their capability of experiencing a meaningful final stage of life.
This has led us to our research project entitled “PsyPal: Psilocybin Therapy for Psychological Distress in Palliative Care Patients.”
he aim of PsyPal is to see if psilocybin therapy can significantly decrease psychological distress in four different palliative care patient groups. These include patients that are diagnosed with either chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and atypical Parkinson’s disease (APD).
There is no cure for any of these conditions. The impact of this terminal diagnosis on the life of patients is profound. Patients are often demoralised in which they experience a significant loss of autonomy and have a lack of meaning in their life. Furthermore, studies estimate that between 34% and 80% of patients suffer from symptoms of depression and anxiety. Not only does this decrease the quality of life of patients, it also significantly affects families, friends, and society at large. Current approaches to treat these symptoms often consist of antidepressants or psychotherapy. Unfortunately, such interventions remain ineffective for most patients. They also require a lot of time and effort to finally take effect. Psilocybin therapy within PsyPal might be the innovative treatment that these patients need.
PsyPal aims to treat 100 patients across four clinical sites in Europe. Each clinical site will focus on a specific condition, namely 1) COPD at the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands, 2) MS at the National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic, 3) ALS at both the University of Copenhagen and the Bispebjerg Hospital in Denmark, and 4) APD at the Champalimaud Foundation in Portugal.
Within the PsyPal study, patients will receive either two doses of psilocybin (15mg and 25mg) or an active placebo that contains 1mg of psilocybin. In both cases, patients receive the same type of treatment from therapists who are specifically trained for PsyPal. This type of treatment consists of three phases, including 1) preparation, 2) dosing, and 3) integration. In the first phase (preparation), patients receive information about the subjective effects of psilocybin and the therapist aims to build trust with the patient. In the second phase (dosing), patients will receive two doses of psilocybin (or the placebo). Patients are guided by two therapists during the entire session that can last an entire day (6-8 hours). Finally, the third phase (integration) is intended to talk about the patient’s experience with psilocybin. Therapists will help the patient integrate their experience into daily life.
PsyPal is a collaborative effort between the University Medical Centre of Groningen and the Swedish company HumanKindLabs. It is the first ever study funded by Horizon Europe that facilitates collaboration between different organisations and further increase the impact of research and innovation. In turn, research projects as PsyPal could address global challenges and lead to the formation of new policies within the European Union.
PsyPal is a consortium project and involves a collaboration of 19 different European organisations from 9 countries. The following organisations are part of the PsyPal consortium (listed alphabetically): 29k, A+ Science, Bispebjerg Hospital, Champalimaud Foundation, European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC), European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA), European Psychiatric Association (EPA), HumanKindLabs, IESE Business School, Lung Alliance Netherlands, Madopa, National Institute of Mental Health in the Czech Republic, Norrsken Mind, OPEN Foundation, University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), University of Copenhagen, University of Groningen, University of Stockholm, Uppsala University. In addition, the PsyPal consortium will also be actively engaging with PAREA (the Psychedelic Access and Research European Alliance).
This project is part of research group Psychedelic Treatment and Mechanisms
