If you or someone you love lives with obsessive-compulsive disorder, you know how exhausting it can be. The same thoughts circling again and again. The rituals that bring a moment of relief, only for the anxiety to rush back in. The feeling of being trapped in your own mind.
A new study offers something different. In October 2025, researchers published a systematic review in the journal Psychedelics that looked at thirteen studies exploring how psilocybin affects obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Four of those studies involved humans, and nine were preclinical, using animal models. Across all of them, the pattern was striking: a single guided psilocybin session often led to a meaningful decrease in compulsive behavior. In some of the human studies, people who had struggled for years saw their symptoms ease within hours, and in some cases, the relief lasted for weeks.
Unfortunately, few of the trials are following patients for more than a few weeks. We also don’t do research at Vital Reset, following our clients in a regular way, but we have anecdotal reports. We’ve seen a dozen or so people come for OCD, and many are reporting long-term relief.
In one of the earliest human trials, people with treatment-resistant OCD took increasing doses of psilocybin in a clinical setting. Every participant showed some improvement. More recent studies found similar results for related conditions like body dysmorphic disorder and compulsive skin picking. In animal models, one psilocybin experience reduced repetitive grooming and anxiety behaviors for up to six weeks.
This isn’t a cure, and it isn’t magic—but it’s hope. For people who have spent years cycling through medication and therapy, this research points toward a different kind of healing. Psilocybin seems to interrupt the rigid loops in the brain that drive obsessions and compulsions, opening a window for new patterns and insights to emerge.
Of course, this kind of work needs to happen safely. Oregon is the one of the only places in the United States where psilocybin can be used legally under professional supervision. At Vital Reset, we guide clients through carefully structured preparation, supervised sessions, and thoughtful integration afterward. It’s not about taking a pill and hoping for the best. It’s about creating the right conditions for genuine change.
If you or someone you love has been living with OCD and nothing else has helped, you might want to learn more about psilocybin-assisted experiences. The science is still growing, but for many people, this path offers something they haven’t felt in a long time—relief, spaciousness, and a sense that life can open up again.
You can read the full study summary on EurekAlert, or reach out to us at Vital Reset if you’d like to talk about whether this kind of journey might be right for you.
