Psychopharmacology
July 1, 2026
Sarah Ann Smith, Haseeb Mohammad, Lik Hang N Lee et al.
Interest in psychedelic drugs has increased rapidly because of their potential therapeutic role in psychiatric disorders. Impairments in the sociocognitive skills needed to build and maintain social relationships are prominent features of many psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Emerging evidence suggests that compounds such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), lysergic acid...
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...
Journal of Eating Disorders
December 29, 2025
Michael Harkhoe, Tim Offringa, Eric Vermetten
Patients with eating disorders (EDs), particularly anorexia nervosa (AN), experience a complex psychiatric condition often characterized by extreme food restriction, intense fear of weight gain, elevated levels of emotional dysregulation, body image disturbance, and comorbid trauma. Several of these factors can undermine the therapeutic alliance and reduce engagement with treatment,...
Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology
August 11, 2025
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Shakila Meshkat, Huda Al-Shamali et al.
4 citations
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe, often difficult-to-treat condition, highlighting the need for innovative therapies. Interventional treatments, including neuromodulation, rapid-acting pharmacotherapies such as intravenous ketamine (IV-KET) and esketamine (ESK), and emerging psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies, offer promising solutions. This systematic review evaluates the...
Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology
August 11, 2025
Lisa Burback, Olga Winkler, Rakesh Jetly et al.
Traditional trauma-focused psychotherapies (TFPs) were developed based on an anxiety disorder model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, PTSD is a more complex disorder with heterogeneous onset, presentation, trajectory, and treatment responsivity. As half of treated patients do not respond to first-line treatments, innovative therapies are emerging to improve outcomes. This...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
June 10, 2025
Torsten Passie, Anja Loizaga-Velder, Alicia Danforth et al.
4 citations
The authors offer a model for curriculum for education and training in substance-assisted psychotherapy (SAP), that is, psychedelic, psycholytic, and entactogen/MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine)-assisted psychotherapy, addressing both the detailed contents of training and the question of experiential training. All authors of this model have an abiding interest and extensive experience in...
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
June 1, 2025
Shakila Meshkat, Gunjan Malik, Richard J. Zeifman et al.
11 citations
Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic, may have therapeutic benefits for Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), but its overall efficacy and safety remain uncertain. This systematic review assessed the safety and efficacy of psilocybin for SUDs through a systematic database search conducted via OVID on May 22, 2024, and summarized 26 ongoing clinical trials registered on clinicaltrials.gov. Among 16...
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...
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...
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
October 1, 2024
Shakila Meshkat, Fatemeh Gholaminezhad, Eric Vermetten et al.
24 citations
Psilocybin is a classic psychedelic with demonstrated preliminary clinical efficacy in a range of psychiatric disorders. Evaluating the impact of psilocybin on cognitive function is essential to unravel its potential benefits and risks. In this systematic review, we assessed psilocybin's effect on cognitive function through a comprehensive search of electronic databases from inception to...
Neurorehabilitation
September 27, 2024
Walter Dunn, Anya K. Bershad, David E. Krantz et al.
2 citations
BACKGROUND: Neurorehabilitation in military populations is complicated by higher rates of PTSD and unique characteristics of military institutions. These factors can adversely impact the patient-therapist therapeutic alliance and engagement with the rehabilitation process leading to poorer outcomes. MDMA is a non-classical psychedelic with pro-social and fear regulating properties....
Frontiers in Psychiatry
May 14, 2024
Zijia Yu, Lisa Burback, Olga Winkler et al.
38 citations
Intense interest surrounds current research on psychedelics, particularly regarding their potential in treating mental health disorders. Various studies suggest a link between the subjective effects produced by psychedelics and their therapeutic efficacy. Neuroimaging evidence indicates an association of changes in brain functional connectivity with the subjective effects of psychedelics. We...
Scientific Reports
February 5, 2024
Alistair Niemeijer, Erwin Krediet, Jeanine Kamphuis et al.
50 citations
Abstract Psilocybin is the most researched classic psychedelic for Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD). While optimizing set and setting are considered essential for efficacy and safety, patient perspectives on these aspects have rarely been investigated. To address this knowledge gap, the current paper explored the experiences of 11 TRD patients (8 women, 3 men) participating in a...
Current Neuropharmacology
2024
Lisa Burback, Suzette Brémault-phillips, Mirjam J Nijdam et al.
187 citations
This narrative state-of-the-art review paper describes the progress in the understanding and treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Over the last four decades, the scientific landscape has matured, with many interdisciplinary contributions to understanding its diagnosis, etiology, and epidemiology. Advances in genetics, neurobiology, stress pathophysiology, and brain imaging have...
European Journal of Psychotraumatology
2024
Jerome Herpers, Natalie Maximets, Noah N N van Dongen et al.
7 citations
Introduction: The positive results of MDMA from Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials in MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) call for a critical evaluation of its regulatory status within the European mental healthcare system. This is driven by the recent submission of MDMA-AT for FDA approval in the United States. Unless coordinated efforts in the...
Journal of Military Veteran and Family Health
October 25, 2023
Amy C. Reichelt, Eric Vermetten, Benjamin T. Dunkley
5 citations
LAY SUMMARY Concussion is a type of acquired brain injury that is common in the military, as well as among civilians and contact sport athletes, and is defined by a transient impairment in mental function. Nevertheless, concussion presents a considerable health burden, and a small minority of people suffer from continued impairment. Repetitive sub-concussive head injury is a known risk factor...
Psychopharmacology
July 1, 2023
Joost J. Breeksema, Alistair Niemeijer, Bouwe Kuin et al.
26 citations
Ketamine and its enantiomers are widely researched and increasingly used to treat mental disorders, especially treatment-resistant depression. The phenomenology of ketamine-induced experiences and their relation to its psychotherapeutic potential have not yet been systematically investigated. To describe the phenomenology of patient experiences during oral esketamine treatment for...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
2023
Macha Godes, Jasper Lucas, Eric Vermetten
14 citations
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent psychiatric condition that significantly impacts daily functioning in patients but lacks adequate treatment options. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) as an adjunct to psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD has been studied increasingly for the last two decades and has shown promising results through quantitative data. However, few...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
August 26, 2022
Joost J. Breeksema, Bouwe Kuin, Jeanine Kamphuis et al.
171 citations
Introduction: Small-scale clinical studies with psychedelic drugs have shown promising results for the treatment of several mental disorders. Before psychedelics become registered medicines, it is important to know the full range of adverse events (AEs) for making balanced treatment decisions. Objective: To systematically review the presence of AEs during and after administration of...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
2022
Joost J. Breeksema, Alistair Niemeijer, Bouwe Kuin et al.
41 citations
Ketamine and its enantiomer esketamine represent promising new treatments for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Esketamine induces acute, transient psychoactive effects. How patients perceive esketamine treatment, and which conditions facilitate optimal outcomes, remains poorly understood. Understanding patient perspectives on these phenomena is important to identify unmet needs, which can...
Journal of Traumatic Stress
August 1, 2021
Linnae Ponté, Lisa Jerome, Scott Hamilton et al.
42 citations
Expression of concern
Sleep disturbances (SDs) are among the most distressing and commonly reported symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite increased attention on sleep in clinical PTSD research, SDs remain difficult to treat. In Phase 2 trials, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy has been shown to greatly improve PTSD symptoms. We hypothesized that MDMA-assisted...
CNS Drugs
August 17, 2020
Joost J. Breeksema, Alistair Niemeijer, Erwin Krediet et al.
217 citations
This review demonstrates how qualitative research of psychedelic treatments can contribute to distinguishing specific features of specific substances, and carry otherwise undiscovered implications for the treatment of specific psychiatric disorders.
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
March 12, 2020
Erwin Krediet, Tijmen Bostoen, Joost J. Breeksema et al.
262 citations
Abstract There are few medications with demonstrated efficacy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Treatment guidelines have unequivocally designated psychotherapy as a first line treatment for PTSD. Yet, even after psychotherapy, PTSD often remains a chronic illness, with high rates of psychiatric and medical comorbidity. Meanwhile, the search for and development of drugs...