The country is the first to make psilocybin and MDMA available for medical use by prescription as part of a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy regimen. In a move that excited some and concerned others, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) earlier this year approved the use of MDMA and psilocybin as adjuncts in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Annual MeetingFull AccessKetamine Comparable to ECT for Many Patients With Refractory DepressionNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:24 Jul 2023https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.08.7.47AbstractFollowing a presentation of new clinical trial data at the Annual Meeting, some questioned why...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Annual MeetingFull AccessPsychedelic Therapy Requires Enhanced Consent DiscussionsNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiPublished Online:28 Jun 2023https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.07.7.46AbstractThe presenters at an Annual Meeting session cautioned that patients pursuing psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy will benefit from physicians offering...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Annual MeetingFull AccessKetamine Pioneer Krystal Receives 2023 Nasrallah Family AwardNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:28 Jun 2023https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.07.7.44AbstractKrystal’s work with ketamine has increased our understanding of the biology of both depression and schizophrenia...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & ResearchFull AccessDepression Improves Following Single Dose of PsilocybinNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiPublished Online:26 Dec 2022https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.01.1.50AbstractPatients with treatment-resistant depression who receive a single dose of psilocybin may experience a reduction in depression symptoms.iStock/Rich...
Activating Memories During Sleep Found to Reduce NightmaresiStock/cyano66Using sounds to activate positive memories during sleep may boost the effectiveness of a daytime therapy for nightmare disorder called image rehearsal therapy (IRT)." Nightmare disorder is characterized by dreams with strong negative emotions occurring during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep," wrote a team of researchers...
Researchers at two APA Annual Meeting sessions engaged in a wide-ranging talk on psychedelic neurobiology and whether an out-of-body experience resulting from psychedelic use is necessary for the medications to be therapeutic. One of the key questions in psychedelic medicine is quantifying how this class of drugs operates at the higher-order brain level. It is known that they activate serotonin...
Positive findings from a phase 3 trial may have brought MDMA-assisted therapy closer to FDA approval, but experts remain unclear about how long the effects of the therapy might last. When Charles Raison, M. D. , a professor of psychiatry and the Mary Sue and Mike Shannon Chair for Healthy Minds, Children & Families at the University of Wisconsin-Madison joined the scientific board at the...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article APA & MeetingsFull AccessSession on Psychedelics Sure to Be EnlighteningNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:2 Mar 2021https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2021.3.14AbstractLeaders in psychedelic research will discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds in psychiatry and important...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & ResearchFull AccessPsychedelics for Psychiatric Disorders: More Research NeededNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:13 Apr 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.4a14AbstractAPA’s Work Group on Biomarkers and Novel Treatments suggests that psychedelic drug trials need more standard...
A total of $17 million in private donations to the Hopkins center is expected to provide five years of operational funding for the center’s researchers and staff. The center will also train graduate students. With the aid of $17 million in private funds, Johns Hopkins University has launched a center to explore the potential of psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and...
New research suggests that, if used properly, psychedelic compounds may be able to help patients with treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders. Psychedelic compounds such as LSD and magic mushrooms were the subject of a good deal of psychiatric research in the first half of the 20th century. This all changed in 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act, which in...
Though several promising investigational compounds that regulate glutamate signaling have faltered in recent clinical studies, upcoming data on esketamine and rapastinel may turn the tide. When the anesthetic ketamine was first shown to have strong and rapid antidepressant properties back in 2000, it triggered a wave of excitement in the psychiatric community. Studies of mood disorders have...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical and Research NewsFull AccessResearch Identifies Gene Linked to Cannabis-Induced PsychosisNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:17 Mar 2016https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2016.3b53AbstractVariants in the AKT1 gene increase risk of acute psychotic symptoms, but another potential...