Psilocybin use has increased in the US alongside promising therapeutic potential for depression, raising concerns that individuals may forgo conventional mental health treatment for unsupervised psilocybin use. However, no nationally representative studies have examined whether psilocybin use is associated with differential treatment utilization or perceived unmet need for mental health care among individuals with depression.

We analyzed data from 6,793 individuals aged ≥ 12 years with a past-year major depressive episode (MDE) from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative survey of the noninstitutionalized US population. Sociodemographic and substance use characteristics were first compared by past-year psilocybin use. We then examined associations between past-year psilocybin use and eight past-year mental health treatment outcomes using Poisson regression, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, other past-year substance use, psychotherapeutic prescription misuse, and alcohol use disorder.

Among individuals with past-year MDE, an estimated 7.3% (95% CI: 6.4–8.3) used psilocybin in the past year. In multivariable models, psilocybin use was not associated with any mental health treatment utilization, including outpatient, inpatient, or telehealth treatment; prescription medication use for mental health; seeing a doctor for depressive feelings; or prescription medication use for depressive feelings. However, psilocybin use was associated with greater perceived unmet treatment need (52.0% vs. 33.9%; aPR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.04–2.01).

Findings suggest that psilocybin use among individuals with depression co-occurs with perceived unmet need for conventional mental health care but is not associated with lower utilization of any conventional mental health treatments.

Existing research on psychological distress and mental health service utilization has focused on common types of solid tumor cancers, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of patients experiencing rare forms of hematologic cancers.

To examine distress, quality of life, and mental health service utilization among patients with aggressive, refractory B-cell lymphomas.

Patients (n = 26) with B-cell lymphomas that relapsed after first- or second-line treatment completed self-report measures of distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and quality of life (Short-Form Health Survey, SF-12). Patients also reported whether they had utilized mental health treatment since their cancer diagnosis.

Approximately 42% (n = 11) of patients reported elevated levels of psychological distress. Of patients with elevated distress, only one quarter (27.2%; n = 3) received mental health treatment, while more than half did not receive mental health treatment (54.5%; n = 6), and 18.1% (n = 2) did not want treatment. Patients with elevated distress reported lower mental quality of life than patients without elevated distress [F (1, 25) = 15.32, p = 0.001].

A significant proportion of patients with advanced, progressive, B-cell lymphomas may experience elevated levels of distress. Yet, few of these distressed patients receive mental health treatment. Findings highlight the need to better identify and address barriers to mental health service utilization among patients with B-cell lymphoma, including among distressed patients who decline treatment.