CNS Drugs
July 1, 2026
Omer A. Syed, Valentyn Sobolenko, Sean M. Nestor et al.
Background and Objective Ketamine and esketamine have emerged as effective and rapid-acting interventions for treatment-resistant depression. Nevertheless, the best-suited candidates for these treatments are not clear. As such, the ability to personalize treatment selection and parameters would likely improve therapeutic response. This systematic review synthesized the literature on clinical...
Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
April 1, 2026
Jordana Kazdan, Karim S Ladha, Muhammad Ishrat Husain
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and chronic pain are independently debilitating conditions that frequently co-occur. This comorbidity poses a significant clinical challenge, resulting in greater symptom severity, higher disability, and worse prognosis than either condition alone. Current therapies often address each disorder in isolation, leaving individuals with comorbid MDD and chronic pain...
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
January 24, 2026
Omer A. Syed, Benjamin Tsang, Sean M. Nestor et al.
Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging intervention for depression. Though several clinical trials report promising results for PAT in treating depression, there remains a need for consensus on optimal methodologies and standardization of PAT protocols. The objective of this review was to assess the efficacy of PAT in treating depressive symptoms and to systematically examine the...
European Psychiatry
2026
Shakila Meshkat, Qiaowei Lin, Rachel Sousa-Ho et al.
Abstract Background Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has shown potential for psychiatric disorders. However, the magnitude of symptom change in control groups remains poorly understood. We aim to evaluate within-group effects in control groups and compare them to treatment groups in psychedelic trials. Methods A systematic search was conducted up to 1 July 2025. The study protocol was...
Psychiatry Research
December 29, 2025
Omer A. Syed, Sean M. Nestor, Muhammad Ishrat Husain et al.
1 citation
Psychedelic use has greatly increased within clinical and recreational settings over recent years. While demonstrating a favorable safety profile within certain clinical populations, little empirical research has explored safety of psychedelic use within real-world samples. Using the World Health Organization (WHO) VigiBase, a comprehensive global pharmacovigilance database with voluntary...
BJPsych Open
December 15, 2025
Nicole Ledwos, Jenna Baer, Muhammad Ishrat Husain et al.
2 citations
Background Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating mental disorder commonly treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, atypical antipsychotic augmentation and cognitive–behavioural therapy. However, up to 60% of people with OCD do not respond to these treatments. Therefore, a novel intervention, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP), is an option of interest....
General Hospital Psychiatry
December 9, 2025
Gerasimos Konstantinou, Joshua D. Rosenblat, Sarah Hales et al.
4 citations
The global demographic shift toward aging populations has intensified the need for innovative therapeutic interventions targeting late-life mental health conditions, notably depression, loneliness, and existential distress. Traditional pharmacological treatments often exhibit limited efficacy and poor tolerability in older patients, primarily due to age-related physiological changes and the...
Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
October 23, 2025
Danielle Bukovsky, Aron Amaev, Jianmeng Song et al.
Psilocybin, a psychedelic prodrug, has gained renewed interest for its potential to treat various psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. While promising, concerns remain regarding its safety profile and the management of potential adverse events (AEs). This systematic review aimed to evaluate the incidence, nature, and severity of adverse events and...
Ther Adv Psychopharmacol
October 16, 2025
Stanley Wong, Brett D. M. Jones, Mathura T. Thiyagarajah et al.
3 citations
Background: Results from contemporary clinical trials of serotonergic psychedelic therapies have led to an increasing focus on their potential clinical use across mental disorders. However, studies examining mechanisms of clinical response to psychedelic therapy in psychiatric populations are limited. This review aimed to synthesize evidence from studies examining biomarkers of clinical...
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology
September 1, 2025
Stanley Wong, Gray Meckling, Nicholas Fabiano et al.
6 citations
Background: Suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths present a major and tragic public health concern. Recent trials of psilocybin therapy (PT) have shown promise in treating treatment-resistant depression and have found a reduction in suicidal ideation. Given the growth of PT research, there is a need to further understand its effect on suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths. Objective: To...
Journal of Affective Disorders
July 18, 2025
Mary E. Kittur, Mingyao Liu, Brett D. M. Jones et al.
12 citations
Accumulating evidence suggests that psilocybin can produce rapid and sustained clinical benefits when administered in conjunction with psychological support. Though non-pharmacological procedures are considered integral, the field lacks therapeutic guidelines and little is known about current practices. This systematic review sought to provide a comprehensive and cross-diagnostic synthesis of...
Psychiatry Research
May 8, 2025
Noah Chisamore, Lee Phan, Roger S McIntyre et al.
7 citations
Psychedelics have re-emerged as promising treatments for mood disorders. The current model provides a moderate-to-high dose of a psychedelic agent (e.g., psilocybin) to reliably induce an altered state of consciousness. Unfortunately, the hallucinatory effects limit the treatment's potential scalability given patients' vulnerability and extensive monitoring costs, leading to growing interest in...
Pharmaceutics
March 25, 2025
Shakila Meshkat, Huda Al-Shamali, Argyrios Perivolaris et al.
22 citations
Background: Psilocybin has shown promise in therapeutic applications for mental disorders. Understanding the pharmacokinetics of psilocybin and its active metabolite psilocin is crucial for optimizing its clinical use and minimizing adverse effects. Methods: This systematic review involved a comprehensive search across MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, and Embase databases, from inception to December...
J Psychiatr Res
March 14, 2025
Aron Amaev, Jianmeng Song, Yasaman Kambari et al.
8 citations
Illness anxiety (IA) is characterized by worry or fear in response to living with a chronic illness or a preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious disease in conjunction with absent to mild somatic symptomatology. Death anxiety (DA) may underpin IA and is more common in individuals with life-threatening illness. Treatments for DA and IA, such as psychotherapy and antidepressant drugs,...
CMAJ
March 2, 2025
Daniel T. Myran, Jennifer Xiao, Nicholas Fabiano et al.
8 citations
Background: Although clinical trials involving psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy have not observed short-term increases in the risk of death, limited data exist on mortality associated with hallucinogen use outside of controlled trial settings. We sought to determine whether people with an emergency department visit or hospital admission involving hallucinogen use were at increased risk of...
Journal of Clinical Medicine
February 20, 2025
Shakila Meshkat, Taha Malik, Jennifer Swainson et al.
3 citations
Background/Objectives: Suicide accounts for 1.4% of global deaths, and the slow-acting nature of traditional treatments for suicide risk underscores the need for alternatives. Psychedelic therapies may rapidly reduce suicide risk. This systematic review evaluates impact of psychedelic therapies on suicide-related outcomes. Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and...
JAMA Psychiatry
February 1, 2025
Daniel T. Myran, Michael Pugliese, Jennifer Xiao et al.
23 citations
Interest in and use of hallucinogens has been increasing rapidly. While a frequently raised concern is that hallucinogens may be associated with an increased risk of psychosis, there are limited data on this association. To examine whether individuals with an emergency department (ED) visit involving hallucinogen use have an increased risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD)....
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
January 8, 2025
Ali Abdolizadeh, Brett D. M. Jones, Maryam Hosseini Kupaei et al.
2 citations
Objective: Psychiatric inpatients represent an acutely vulnerable population with high rates of suicidality (ie, suicidal ideation, attempts, and completed suicide). This systematic review aimed to evaluate treatments for suicidality delivered within inpatient settings. Data Sources: MEDLINE, Embase, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library were systematically searched using 3 concepts:...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
December 24, 2024
Omer A. Syed, Rotem Petranker, Emily C. Fewster et al.
3 citations
Although several studies have well described the characteristics of people who use psychedelics alongside their motivations and beliefs, little research has examined the preferences surrounding the source of psychedelic substances. In an anonymous online survey, we collected data from 6,379 consumers of 11 different psychedelic substances from 85 different countries, exploring their preferences...
Canadian Journal of Pain
November 8, 2024
Jiwon Lee, Kaylyssa Philip, Hance Clarke et al.
3 citations
The PEACE-PAIN trial study design is supported by patient survey responses but may benefit from modifications, namely incorporating thorough discussions of the current evidence for efficacy, safety, tolerability, and approaches to address adverse effects of psilocybin. Additionally, the interest in participation by individuals with prior psychedelic use holds important methodological...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
November 6, 2024
Rotem Petranker, Valentyn Sobolenko, Zeina Beidas et al.
9 citations
Despite psychedelic microdosing being a growing practice, the research on the topic is still in its infancy. While several studies have described the characteristics, motivations and practices of microdosers, the differences between individuals that only microdose and those that use both micro and macrodoses of psychedelics remain unexplored. In an online survey, we collected data of 6193...
npj Mental Health Research
July 2, 2024
Maryam Golafshani, Daniel Z. Buchman, Muhammad Ishrat Husain
3 citations
Given the renewed interest in the use of psychedelics for the treatment of mental and substance use disorders in recent decades, there has also been renewed discussion and debate about whether it is necessary or beneficial for those who study and deliver psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) to have had personal experience of using psychedelics. This paper provides a brief history of this...
Neuropsychopharmacology
April 16, 2024
Brett D. M. Jones, Muhammad Ishrat Husain
Neural effects of psychedelics: Complexity the key word.
Acta Neuropsychiatrica
February 8, 2024
Negar Sayrafizadeh, Nicole Ledwos, Muhammad Ishrat Husain et al.
3 citations
Abstract Objective: Monoamine neurotransmitters play a role in aggression, especially when altered by illicit substances. However, some literature suggests that not all illicit substances may lead to aggression, notably psychedelics. This narrative review investigates the associations between serotonergic psychedelics and MDMA on aggressive behaviour. Methods: PubMed and PsycINFO were searched...
Psychiatry Research
November 1, 2023
Sipan Haikazian, David C J Chen-Li, Danica E. Johnson et al.
121 citations
The aim of this review was to determine the effect of psilocybin on depressive symptoms in patients diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses or major depressive disorder. Systematic searches were conducted to search for randomized clinical trials and open-label trials that evaluated depression symptoms after psilocybin therapy. Data was pooled using a random-effects model. The primary outcome...