Psilocybin shows therapeutic potential for stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, addiction, and eating disorders, but its mechanisms are complex, involving multiple body systems. This review explores how psilocybin interacts with the gut microbiota, enteric nervous system, and hypothalamic-pituitary axis, influencing bidirectional communication between peripheral and neuronal systems. Understanding these gut-brain interactions could advance psilocybin-based therapies from preparation through long-term integration, potentially extending benefits beyond psychiatric disorders to inflammatory-related conditions.
A mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) group treatment and a sex education comparison group treatment both reduced perceived stress in 148 women diagnosed with sexual interest/arousal disorder, with MBCT producing significantly greater reductions. The cortisol slope, indicating stress system regulation, steepened from pre-treatment to six-month follow-up in both groups, with no difference between them. Exploratory analyses showed that reduced perceived stress predicted increased sexual desire and decreased sex-related distress only after MBCT. The findings suggest that group mindfulness for women with low desire improves both self-reported and physiological stress, and that improvements in self-reported stress partly account for improvements in sexual desire and distress.