In an open-label trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for cancer-related demoralization and chronic pain, patients, facilitators, and caregivers identified key components and improvements for the treatment protocol. Using the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique, interviews revealed critical incidents, wish list items, and contributing factors related to therapy aspects like intention-setting and overall protocol transitions. The findings emphasize tailoring treatment to individual medical history, supporting common therapeutic factors, and ensuring collaborative care. Nine topic areas for protocol improvement emerged from the data.
Cohen and Marks (2025) argue for a middle path between two extreme views on psychedelic medicine: the exceptionalism that overstates its unique therapeutic potential and the skepticism that dismisses it as no different from other treatments. They contend that psychedelics do possess distinctive features—such as their capacity to induce profound altered states and facilitate enduring psychological change—but that these features do not warrant special regulatory or ethical exemptions. The authors advocate for integrating psychedelic therapies into existing medical frameworks while acknowledging their specific risks and benefits, aiming to balance innovation with responsible oversight.
Muslims living in the United States show moderate openness to psychedelic therapies, and a weak negative correlation exists between their rejection of mental health services and their acceptance of psychedelics. Higher education is associated with more favorable attitudes toward both mental health services and psychedelic therapies. The findings highlight the need to understand educational and cultural factors shaping these views to advance equitable mental health care for this underrepresented group.
Psilocybin, the psychoactive substance in hallucinogenic mushrooms, has shown therapeutic effects in over 136 clinical studies for psychiatric, neurodegenerative, and chronic pain conditions, though its molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study tested whether psilocybin affects cellular aging using a human cell model of replicative senescence. Continuous treatment with psilocybin caused a dose-dependent reduction in cell-cycle arrest markers, increased DNA replication and proliferation markers, lowered senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), and decreased oxidative stress, without killing senescent cells. These results provide the first experimental evidence that psilocybin may slow cellular senescence, suggesting potential as a geroprotective agent for age-related diseases.