Demoralization, a syndrome of helplessness, hopelessness, and loss of meaning and chronic pain are common sources of distress in early palliative care. Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging intervention with preliminary data suggesting improvements in pain and demoralization. To date, PAT has not been studied among people living with both demoralization and chronic pain nor has it...
There is growing interest in novel approaches to treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including the use of psychedelic substances combined with psychotherapy, often referred to as psychedelic-assisted therapy, to better meet the needs of patients who do not prefer or respond to traditional evidence-based treatments. Among these treatments, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine...
This paper is an edited transcript of a plenary panel held at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The panel comprised Drs. Mark Creamer (moderator), Richard Bryant (convenor), Amy Lehrner, Barbara O. Rothbaum, Joseph I. Ruzek, and Paula P. Schnurr. Bringing together clinicians and researchers with a...
This brief review article will describe treatment approaches for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on findings from basic research. The focus of this review will be fear conditioning and extinction models, which provide a translational model of PTSD that can help translate basic research in nonhuman animals through well-controlled trials confirming the efficacy of treatment approaches...
This article describes the rationale and the specific methods for an open label pilot trial of 100 mg MDMA in combination with massed exposure therapy for PTSD, a treatment which involves daily exposure therapy sessions for two weeks which has found to be effective. We review the need for novel PTSD treatments and the existing research on MDMA-assisted therapy, and then describe the rationale...
Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) is an experimental treatment with transformative promise. Developing standards for PAT psychotherapy protocols is a priority, but psychotherapeutic protocol components of PAT have been subjected to little rigorous research. This study was designed to assess protocol components in a trial of PAT. The Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (E-CIT) was used to...
Social attitudes, policy, and perceptions of psychedelics are currently undergoing considerable change. Growing public salience of psychedelics has been accompanied by the emergence of conferences focused on psychedelic education and dialogue. Attendees at such events compose an important group of stakeholders in psychedelic science and practice; their views of psychedelics can be valuable for...
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) assisted therapy has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for PTSD and emerging research suggests a change in personality traits may be a factor in treatment response. Most prior research on MDMA and personality has focused on cross-sectional comparisons of MDMA users and non-users; as such, well-controlled research assessing personality and...
Objective: Despite considerable research examining the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies (PATs) for treating psychiatric disorders, assessment of adverse events (AEs) in PAT research has lagged. Current AE reporting standards in PAT trials are poorly calibrated to features of PAT that distinguish it from other treatments, leaving many potential AEs unassessed. Methods: A...
Background: Fear conditioning and extinction are well-characterized cross-species models of fear-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and recent animal data suggest that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) enhances fear extinction retention. Aims: This study investigated the effect of MDMA on fear learning, extinction training, and retention in healthy humans. Methods:...
Open Journal of NursingAugust 16, 2021Meredith Mealer, Debra L Boeldt, Kathryn L Cochran et al.
Objective: Critical care nurses work in a challenging intensive care (ICU) environment that results in work-related psychological distress. Our objective was to pilot an in-person or virtual mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) program enhanced resilience and a similarly designed attention control group. Methods: We randomized ICU nurses with symptoms of burnout syndrome and decreased...
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often difficult to treat, and many patients do not achieve full remission. Complementary and integrative health approaches, such as mindfulness meditation, are intended to be integrated with evidence-based treatment. This study examined the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in the treatment of PTSD in U.S. military veterans. Veterans...
(-) MDMA (0.3, 1.0, or 1.7 mg/kg) at 9 or 16 h (3 h before "lights off"). Morning treatments had no effects on sleep-like parameters. Racemic MDMA decreased general daytime activity during the first hour after injection and increased daytime activity at 3 hr posttreatment. Although afternoon administration of racemic MDMA increased sleep latency, it improved other sleep parameters, decreasing...
We validate enhancement of fear memory extinction by MDMA in a translational behavioral model, and reveal the importance of 5-HTT and 5-HT2A receptors to this effect. These observations support future clinical research of MDMA as an adjunct to exposure therapy, and provide important pharmacological considerations for clinical use in a population frequently treated with 5-HTT inhibitors.
Workplace stress can affect job satisfaction, increase staff turnover and hospital costs, and reduce quality of patient care. Highly resilient nurses adapt to stress and use a variety of skills to cope effectively. To gain data on a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy resilience intervention for intensive care unit nurses to see if the intervention program would be feasible and acceptable....