Home Blog A Life-Changing Clinical Trial with Psychedelics | Vikki’s Grateful Patient Story

April 19, 2023

A Life-Changing Clinical Trial with Psychedelics | Vikki’s Grateful Patient Story

by Anthony Effinger

The Think Neuro podcast from Pacific Neuroscience Institute takes you into the clinic, operating room and laboratory with doctors and surgeons who are tackling the most challenging brain diseases and disorders. Host: Anthony Effinger

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Episode 39: Show Notes

Vikki was walking her dog and listening to NPR in Santa Monica one day, when she heard an advertisement for an unusual medical trial. Pacific Neuroscience Institute was studying whether psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, could help alcoholics kick their habit. Vikki, 60, was a steady drinker and had been since she was 18. She never got terribly drunk, but nor did cocktail hour ever come and go for her without drinking wine. She liked to socialize because socializing meant drinking, and she began to wonder if the wine meant more to her than her friends did. So, she called PNI and enrolled in the study.

Listen to this podcast to learn how two psychedelic trips, guided by doctors and trained medical staff at PNI after comprehensive medical exams and extensive preparation, changed Vikki’s life, beyond just the wine.

As a note, this clinical trial is closed but other psychedelic-assisted treatments are available for qualified patients with alcohol use disorder.

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Anthony Effinger

Think Neuro's host is Anthony Effinger, an award-winning journalist who is fascinated with neuroscience and the workings of the brain. Anthony spent 24 years at Bloomberg News, where he covered all aspects of finance, with forays into science and health. In 2006, the Association of Health Care Journalists awarded him first prize for Playing the Odds, an in-depth piece on the changing strategies used to treat prostate cancer. These days, he is a staff writer at Willamette Week, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper in Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Last updated: May 19th, 2023