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Robert A Schoevers

42 papers in the library · 2,320 citations · publishing 2016-2026

Papers

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Psychedelics as a potential treatment for tobacco use disorder: a systematic review.

Discover Mental Health September 17, 2024 S K Spoelstra, Robert A Schoevers, S D Venema et al. 8 citations

Despite considerable efforts, tobacco use disorder persists as a significant public health issue. The effectiveness of current smoking cessation therapies is limited, leading to a growing interest in alternative treatment approaches such as psychedelics. The aim of this review is to evaluate the scientific evidence regarding the role of psychedelics in smoking cessation. To identify relevant...

Oral esketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with open-label extension.

Molecular Psychiatry September 1, 2024 Sanne Y Smith-Apeldoorn, Jolien K E Veraart, Jeanine Kamphuis et al. 23 citations

About one-third of patients with depression do not achieve adequate response to current treatment options. Although intravenous and intranasal administrations of (es)ketamine have shown antidepressant properties, their accessibility and scalability are limited. We investigated the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of generic oral esketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD)...

Shared effects of electroconvulsive shocks and ketamine on neuroplasticity: A systematic review of animal models of depression.

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2024 Jesca E De Jager, Rutger Boesjes, Gijs H J Roelandt et al. 13 citations

Electroconvulsive shocks (ECS) and ketamine are antidepressant treatments with a relatively fast onset of therapeutic effects compared to conventional medication and psychotherapy. While the exact neurobiological mechanisms underlying the antidepressant response of ECS and ketamine are unknown, both interventions are associated with neuroplasticity. Restoration of neuroplasticity may be a...

Patient perspectives and experiences with psilocybin treatment for treatment-resistant depression: a qualitative study

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...

Phenomenology and therapeutic potential of patient experiences during oral esketamine treatment for treatment-resistant depression: an interpretative phenomenological study.

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...

Single-dose psilocybin for a treatment-resistant episode of major depression: Impact on patient-reported depression severity, anxiety, function, and quality of life

Journal of Affective Disorders February 3, 2023 Guy M. Goodwin, Scott T Aaronson, Oscar Alvarez et al. 168 citations

Three weeks after dosing, psilocybin 25 mg and, to a lesser degree, 10 mg improved measures of patient-reported depression severity, anxiety, affect, and functioning. These results extend the primary findings from the largest randomised clinical trial of psilocybin for TRD to examine other outcomes that are of importance to patients.

Single-Dose Psilocybin for a Treatment-Resistant Episode of Major Depression.

The New England journal of medicine November 3, 2022 Guy M. Goodwin, Scott T Aaronson, Oscar Alvarez et al. 1,095 citations

Psilocybin is being studied for use in treatment-resistant depression. In this phase 2 double-blind trial, we randomly assigned adults with treatment-resistant depression to receive a single dose of a proprietary, synthetic formulation of psilocybin at a dose of 25 mg, 10 mg, or 1 mg (control), along with psychological support. The primary end point was the change from baseline to week 3 in the...

Maintenance ketamine treatment for depression: a systematic review of efficacy, safety, and tolerability.

Lancet Psychiatry November 1, 2022 Sanne Y Smith-Apeldoorn, Jolien K E Veraart, Jan Spijker et al. 163 citations

Ketamine has rapid yet often transient antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Different strategies have been proposed to prolong these effects. Maintenance ketamine treatment appears promising, but little is known about its efficacy, safety, and tolerability in depression. We searched Pubmed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library and identified three randomised...

Adverse events in clinical treatments with serotonergic psychedelics and MDMA: A mixed-methods systematic review

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...

Brain Changes Associated With Long-Term Ketamine Abuse, A Systematic Review

Frontiers in Neuroanatomy March 18, 2022 Jurriaan F M Strous, C. Weeland, Femke A. van der Draai et al. 79 citations

Recently, the abuse of ketamine has soared. Therefore, it is of great importance to study its potential risks. The effects of prolonged ketamine on the brain can be observationally studied in chronic recreational users. We performed a systematic review of studies reporting functional and structural brain changes after repeated ketamine abuse. We searched the following electronic databases:...

Holding on or letting go? Patient experiences of control, context, and care in oral esketamine treatment for treatment-resistant depression: A qualitative study.

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...

Psychedelics for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and existential distress in patients with a terminal illness: a systematic review.

Psychopharmacology 2022 Nina Schimmers, Joost J. Breeksema, Sanne Y Smith-Apeldoorn et al.

Terminally ill patients may experience existential distress, depression, or anxiety, limiting quality of life in the final stage. Existing psychotherapeutic or pharmacological interventions have (time) limited efficacy. Psychedelic treatment may be a safe and effective alternative treatment option. Systematically review studies on psychedelic treatment with and without psychotherapy for...

Ketamine Treatment for Depression in Patients With a History of Psychosis or Current Psychotic Symptoms: A Systematic Review.

Journal of Clinical Psychiatry July 13, 2021 Jolien K E Veraart, Sanne Y Smith-Apeldoorn, Jan Spijker et al. 31 citations

Objective: Ketamine shows rapid and robust antidepressant effects in clinical studies. Psychotic features are an exclusion criterion in most ketamine treatment studies based on the assumption that psychosis will increase with ketamine administration. As patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) often have psychotic features, and treatment-resistant depressive symptoms are also common...

Pharmacodynamic Interactions Between Ketamine and Psychiatric Medications Used in the Treatment of Depression: A Systematic Review

International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology June 25, 2021 Jolien K E Veraart, Sanne Y Smith-Apeldoorn, I. M. Bakker et al. 44 citations

Abstract Background The use of ketamine for depression has increased rapidly in the past decades. Ketamine is often prescribed as an add-on to other drugs used in psychiatric patients, but clear information on drug-drug interactions is lacking. With this review, we aim to provide an overview of the pharmacodynamic interactions between ketamine and mood stabilizers, benzodiazepines, monoamine...

Psychedelic Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of Patient Experiences in Qualitative Studies

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.

Oral esketamine for treatment-resistant depression: rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial.

BMC Psychiatry November 29, 2019 Sanne Y Smith-Apeldoorn, Jolien K E Veraart, Jeanine Kamphuis et al.

There is an urgent need to develop additional treatment strategies for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The rapid but short-lived antidepressant effects of intravenous (IV) ketamine as a racemic mixture have been shown repeatedly in this population, but there is still a paucity of data on the efficacy and safety of (a) different routes of administration, and (b) ketamine's...

Oral ketamine for the treatment of pain and treatment-resistant depression

The British Journal of Psychiatry February 1, 2016 Robert A Schoevers, Tharcila V. Chaves, Sonya M. Balukova et al. 80 citations

BACKGROUND: Recent studies with intravenous (i.v.) application of ketamine show remarkable but short-term success in patients with MDD. Studies in patients with chronic pain have used different ketamine applications for longer time periods. This experience may be relevant for psychiatric indications. AIMS: To review the literature about the dosing regimen, duration, effects and side-effects of...