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...
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)...
Neuroscience & 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...
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...
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...
Heliyon
May 1, 2023
Jolien K E Veraart, M. van Westenbrugge, J.E. van Wulfften Palthe et al.
30 citations
Introduction: Ketamine and its S-enantiomer esketamine are novel pharmacotherapeutic options for treatment resistant depression (TRD). There is growing evidence on the efficacy for other psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is hypothesized that psychotherapy may further potentiate the effects of (es)ketamine in psychiatric disorders. Methods: Repeated oral...
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.
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...
The 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...
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
October 24, 2022
Jolien K E Veraart, Sanne Y Smith-Apeldoorn, M. Kutscher et al.
Objective: Ketamine is increasingly prescribed for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), often as add-on to regular antidepressants. Augmentation of ketamine to monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) is advised against, as this practice might increase blood pressure or cause serotonin syndrome. Despite the potential relevance for patients, little is known about actual side effects of combined...
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 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:...
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...
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...
The 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...
The 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...
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.
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...
BJPsych Open
September 1, 2018
Jolien K E Veraart, Sanne Y Smith-Apeldoorn, Hayley Trueman et al.
9 citations
BACKGROUND: Off-label ketamine treatment has shown acute antidepressant effects that offer hope for patients with therapy-resistant depression. However, its potential for integration into treatment algorithms is controversial, not least because the evidence base for maintenance treatment with repeated ketamine administration is currently weak. Ketamine is also a drug of misuse, which has raised...
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...