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...
Journal of Military Veteran and Family Health
February 1, 2026
Ian Stefanuk, Kaitlin Chivers-Wilson, Rakesh Jetly et al.
Introduction: Comorbid conditions such as major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder are common among Veterans, and the presence of multiple conditions requires innovative treatment approaches. The Newly Institute in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has introduced a novel intervention combining sublingual ketamine therapy with a medically managed transdiagnostic...
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 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 Substance Use and Addiction Treatment
August 1, 2025
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Shakila Meshkat, Ilya Demchenko et al.
12 citations
Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) involve diminished control, risky use, impaired social interactions, and physical dependence. Despite their global prevalence and burden, treatment options remain limited. Ketamine (KET), an NMDA receptor antagonist, may aid SUD treatment by modulating glutamatergic neurotransmission. This systematic review evaluates KET's role in SUD treatment. This review...
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...
Psychedelic Medicine
April 28, 2025
Shakila Meshkat, Howell Fang, Rachel Sousa-Ho et al.
Introduction: High-dose psilocybin has shown potential in treating various psychiatric disorders, but its perceptual and cognitive effects, along with the risk of adverse events, highlight the need for alternative treatment approaches. One such approach is the use of low-dose psilocybin, which does not significantly alter cognition or perception. While low-dose psilocybin has garnered growing...
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
April 2, 2025
Viktoriia Kurkova, Olga Winkler, Andrew J. Greenshaw et al.
This scoping review addresses the need to comprehensively explore the potential of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) to facilitate recovery from moral injury. Moral injury (MI), characterized by profound psychological distress arising from morally challenging experiences, has garnered increased attention as a complex mental health concern with significant functional sequelae, especially...
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...
PLoS One
January 17, 2025
Shakila Meshkat, Wendy Lou, Rakesh Jetly et al.
10 citations
Background Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects 3.9% of the general population. While massed cognitive processing therapy (CPT) has demonstrated efficacy in treating chronic PTSD, a substantial proportion of patients still continue to meet PTSD criteria after treatment, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic approaches. Preliminary evidence supports the potential therapeutic action...
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...
Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy
November 1, 2020
Divya Mistry, Jenney Zhu, Paul Tremblay et al.
Objective: We investigate the potential therapeutic application of virtual reality (VR) technology as an aid to meditation practice among persons varying in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Method: In this within-group mixed-methods study, 96 young adults practiced both VR- and non-VR-guided meditations and reported on their experience of positive affect (PA), negative affect...
June 25, 2020
Paul Frewen, R. Hunt, C. Pope et al.
It has been suggested that responding to the COVID-19 pandemic will require innovations in how mental healthcare is provided to Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Virtual Reality (...