Adding psychedelics to psychotherapy has helped cure heavy drinking problems in adults more effectively than psychotherapy alone, a new study says. Administering high doses of psilocybin, a mind-altering psychedelic compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, twice to patients with an alcohol use disorder combined with psychotherapy helped reduce days of heavy drinking more than taking a placebo and therapy. And eight months after taking the first dose, 48 percent of study participants who had taken psilocybin had completely stopped drinking. That's the gist of the study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. The study, led by New York University, was a double-blind, randomized clinical trial. Participants were asked to undergo 12 weeks of psychotherapy and were randomly assigned to take either psilocybin or diphenhydramine, an antihistamine medication, during two daily drug sessions on weeks four and eight. In the first session, people received 25 milligrams per 70 kilograms of psilocybin or 50 mg of diphenhydramine. In the second session, they received 25 to 40 mg per 70 kilograms of psilocybin or 50 to 100 mg of diphenhydramine. Along with this, they received motivational-enhancing therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Researchers observed participants to assess their outcomes during a 32-week double-blind period after their first dose of medication. No serious side effects were found among people who took psilocybin. The study included 93 adults, ages 25 to 65, who were diagnosed with alcohol dependence and had at least four days of heavy alcohol use in the 30 days before screening. People with serious mental health and substance use disorders, those who use hallucinogens, those with medical conditions that preclude the use of medication, and those who were undergoing treatment for alcohol dependence were excluded from the study.