ISSN 2044-6055
50 papers in the library · 352 citations · publishing 2012-2026
BMJ Open August 18, 2026
Synthesising evidence from decades of meditation-based research across populations, interventions, comparisons and outcomes: protocol for a meta-analytic database of randomised controlled trials via the MetaCIH Collaborative.
BMJ Open July 13, 2026 Thomas D Meyer, Lauren N Vale, Maya Ibrahim et al.
Bipolar II disorder (BD-II) is characterised by hypomanic and depressive episodes with the latter tending to dominate the clinical course of the disorder, and they are often associated with suicidality. Despite available guideline-based recommendations for first-line pharmacological treatments, patient outcomes remain suboptimal, especially for those with chronic depression and suicidal...
BMJ Open July 1, 2026 Wenwen Zhang, Guangyan Han, Haibin Guo et al.
INTRODUCTION: Impaired inhibitory control is a core neurocognitive deficit in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Physical exercise and mindfulness training are each promising non-pharmacological approaches for ADHD; however, whether combining mindfulness with different exercise modalities, particularly team-based and individual-based open-skill exercise versus...
BMJ Open July 1, 2026 Kirsten Morley, Shalini Arunogiri, Katherine L. Mills et al.
INTRODUCTION: The treatment of comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) is significantly more challenging than the treatment of either disorder alone. While gold standard evidence-based treatments exist for this comorbidity, clinically significant improvements are only observed in approximately half of clinical trial participants. The use of adjunctive...
BMJ Open May 11, 2026 Julia Colcott, Alexandre A. Guerin, Olivia Carter et al.
Despite growing interest in the therapeutic potential of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), no targeted measure to systematically assess side effects of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) exists. Our aim was to develop an MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Side Effects Tool (M-SET) to capture side effects over the course of MDMA-AP. Informed by a systematic review and a review of other...
BMJ Open April 1, 2026 Maria Niemi, Johannes Michalak, Maria Velana et al.
Introduction Mindfulness-based interventions are widely used, yet concerns about potential negative effects—particularly those related to mindfulness meditation practice—have gained increasing attention. Individuals with difficult-to-treat depression (DTD) represent a population of particular relevance due to heightened vulnerability, but comparative evidence on clinically relevant negative...
BMJ Open March 12, 2026 Rosalind McAlpine, Magdalena Jaglinska, Krisztina Jedlovszky et al.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy shows promise for treating various mental health conditions; however, its reliance on intensive psychological preparation limits its broader application. Digital health interventions have the potential to address this limitation by providing structured, accessible and scalable preparation solutions. This randomised controlled feasibility trial aims to evaluate the...
BMJ Open March 1, 2026 Christina Mcanulty, Philippe Lavoie, Samuel Cyr et al.
BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) often co-occur, presenting a major clinical challenge with limited effective treatments. However, ketamine produces rapid antidepressant effects and has shown promise in reducing alcohol use, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can be effective for both substance use and mood disorders. This study explores the...
BMJ Open January 27, 2026 Jing Tian, Mengchao Xu, Songjie Li et al.
Non-tracheal intubation anaesthesia for thoracoscopic surgery is associated with intraoperative hypoxaemia. Esketamine has both sedative and analgesic effects, which can increase lung compliance, reduce airway resistance and relax the respiratory smooth muscles. This study will investigate the effectiveness of low-dose esketamine in reducing the incidence of intraoperative hypoxaemia and other...
BMJ Open December 8, 2025
Efficacy and moderators of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in 'Difficult to Treat' depression: protocol for a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
BMJ Open December 3, 2025
Digital mindfulness- and acceptance-based stress reduction intervention for individuals looking online for help: protocol for the CRISP randomised controlled trial.
BMJ Open October 23, 2025 Jiheun Hong, Christopher R Shelton, Hayoung Oh
Stress is a major health issue in contemporary society, and mindfulness-based approaches reduce stress and anxiety but face practical barriers to consistent practice; this protocol evaluates a Virtual Reality (VR)-based observation meditation programme with an artificial intelligence (AI) coach ('Otti') that delivers real-time empathic, tailored prompts to support present-focused attention and...
BMJ Open September 1, 2025 Ravi Shankar, Anjali Bundele, Amanda Yap et al. 1 citation
INTRODUCTION: Virtual reality (VR) technology is increasingly being explored as a medium for delivering mindfulness-based interventions. While studies have investigated the feasibility and efficacy of VR-based mindfulness interventions, there has been limited synthesis of user experiences and perceptions across diverse applications, hindering the iterative refinement of these technologies and...
BMJ Open August 1, 2025 Nicky J. Mehtani, B. Anderson, Irina Alexander et al.
INTRODUCTION: Methamphetamine use disorder (MeUD) is a debilitating condition with no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies that has been associated with poor neurological, psychiatric and cardiovascular outcomes, particularly among low-income populations. The use of methamphetamine also increases risks for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by reducing behavioural inhibitions while enhancing...
BMJ Open July 28, 2025 Trine Hjorslev Andreasen, Markus Harboe Olsen, Christian Gluud et al. 2 citations
Cortical spreading depolarisation (SD) is a pathological wave of depolarisation in the cortex. SDs occur frequently after severe acute brain injury, and SDs in clusters can contribute to secondary brain damage in patients with severe acute brain injury through hypoperfusion and upregulation of cerebral metabolism in vulnerable brain tissue. Ketamine appears to inhibit SDs both in vitro and in...
BMJ Open July 18, 2025 Vjura Senthilnathan, Susan Zahir, Robert Simpson et al. 1 citation
With growing access to the internet, online mindfulness programmes have become more commonly used to manage physical and mental health conditions. This scoping review aims to determine the nature and extent of the literature, and key characteristics, of online mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for adults with physical or mental health conditions. A scoping review guided by the Joanna...
BMJ Open July 16, 2025 Golo Kronenberg, Anna Bankwitz, Barbora Provaznikova et al.
Suicidal thoughts and behaviours are linked to a wide range of mental health conditions. New interest in the psychiatric benefits of nitrous oxide (N2O) has only recently emerged. The broad pharmacological effects of N2O are thought to be due in large part to N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonism and opioid effects. The purpose of this study protocol is to test whether inhalational N2O exerts rapid...
BMJ Open June 27, 2025 Sijia Xia, Feng Chen, Wenju Wang et al.
Cognitive frailty (CF) is a clinical syndrome characterised by the concurrent occurrence of physical frailty and cognitive impairment, excluding Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Recent studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise (AE) and meditation (ME) effectively enhances both physical and cognitive functions in individuals with CF. The study aims to determine whether...
BMJ Open June 23, 2025 Zhe Sun, Lei Jiang, Yan Xing et al.
As a disorder of gut-brain interaction, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common reason for patient visits in primary and specialist care settings. IBS is associated with recurrent abdominal pain, altered bowel habit, resulting in alternating constipation and diarrhoea, bloating, without serious organic diseases. The bidirectional relationship between IBS and psychological factor is also...
BMJ Open April 1, 2025 Vanessa L. Beesley, Tom Kennedy, Fiona Maccallum et al. 2 citations
Introduction Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) represents a substantial public health issue, especially in oncology settings where it affects up to 30% of bereaved carers. Current best-practice treatments are lengthy, and up to 50% of participants have persistent PGD. Building on encouraging recent research with psychedelic-assisted therapies, the Psilocybin-Assisted suppoRtive psychoTherapy IN...
BMJ Open February 10, 2025 Kathryn Fletcher, Nadine Ezard, Krista J. Siefried et al. 1 citation
Methamphetamine use disorder is a significant public health concern. No pharmacological treatment options currently exist for methamphetamine use disorder, and psychotherapy is only moderately effective. Preliminary evidence suggests that ketamine-assisted psychotherapy produces sustained improvements in substance use and mental health symptomatology. In addition to direct antidepressant...
BMJ Open December 15, 2024 Angeliki Bogosian, Glenn Robert, Siobhan O'Connor et al.
Introduction People with type 2 diabetes can experience diabetes distress which can negatively affect health outcomes. Non-pharmacological interventions such as mindfulness can help address diabetes distress. However, face-to-face programmes can be constrained by cost, poor accessibility and lack of availability. Mobile apps for mindfulness may overcome these issues but evidence of their...
BMJ Open October 26, 2024 Amartya Mukhopadhyay, Ravi Shankar, Wei Zhen Hong et al.
Introduction Caregivers of patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) face significant challenges that contribute to caregiver burden, negatively impacting their psychosocial well-being. Virtual-reality (VR)-guided mindfulness interventions have shown promise in reducing stress, anxiety and depression in various populations.Methods and analysis This pilot study aims to evaluate the efficacy...
BMJ Open September 25, 2024 Yi Long, Donghuang Hong, Haibin Ni et al. 1 citation
Pain is common in patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU). Intravenous opioids are recommended as first-line therapy for pain management; however, opioids have adverse side effects. Based on low-quality evidence, low-dose ketamine is therefore recommended as an opioid adjunct to reduce opioid consumption. Esketamine is an alternative to ketamine with greater...
BMJ Open August 7, 2024 Deqi Zhang, Wenxin Zhao, Lin Yuan et al. 1 citation
Breast cancer has become the most common cancer worldwide. Various types of mindfulness-based interventions (e.g., mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction) have been conducted in different delivery methods (including face to face and internet delivered) to help patients with breast cancer mitigate their depression. However, at present, there are no studies that...