Psychedelics are being explored for treating mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, PTSD, and addiction, but there is no standard approach for combining them with psychotherapy or measuring their effectiveness. The authors propose the concept of behavioral psychedelics, defined as the study of using psychedelics to intentionally change habits and behaviors to improve health and resilience. They argue that psychedelics might reduce chronic disease risk linked to mental and behavioral rigidity, but the field needs to develop best practices and guidelines for inducing lasting behavioral changes.
A comprehensive review of randomized controlled trials examined whether mindfulness meditation affects biological markers of the immune system. The analysis focused on inflammatory proteins, gene expression, immune cell counts, immune cell aging, and antibody response. The findings suggest possible effects on specific markers of inflammation, cell-mediated immunity, and biological aging, but these results are tentative and require further replication. Substantial heterogeneity across studies in patient populations, designs, and assay procedures limits firm conclusions. Mindfulness meditation may be beneficial for immune system dynamics, but additional research is needed to confirm these effects.