A single dose of psilocybin, but not MDMA, produced short-term psychological changes in healthy adults: reduced neuroticism, increased extraversion, and improvements in mindfulness and connectedness one week after dosing. Psilocybin also induced stronger mystical experiences than MDMA, and the magnitude of those experiences correlated with changes in connectedness and mindfulness, though not with personality changes. Participants preferred larger group settings for MDMA than for psilocybin. The findings suggest that psilocybin's psychological effects may be mediated by mystical-type experiences.
Intranasal esketamine, approved by the FDA in 2019 for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), showed real-world effectiveness in a clinical setting in Hartford, Connecticut. In a sample of 50 patients whose moderate to severe baseline depressive symptoms were measured with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), symptoms reduced to the mild range after 4 weeks, and this improvement was sustained over 16 weeks of treatment. Adverse effects were transient and generally mild, with dissociation and sedation being most common; there were no safety events, misuse, or dependence, and very few discontinuations due to tolerability. The findings indicate that intranasal esketamine augmentation therapy is safe and effective in routine clinical practice.