Psychoactives
August 30, 2026
Laura Schäffert, Human-Friedrich Unterrainer
Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains a leading contributor to global morbidity, yet conventional treatments often yield suboptimal outcomes and high relapse rates. Psilocybin-assisted therapy has re-emerged as a potential intervention for substance use disorders, but its effectiveness and safety in AUD specifically remain to be comprehensively evaluated. Objective: To review and...
Psychoactives
July 28, 2026
David W. Lawrence
The nature of the psychedelic experience, and the distinctive phenomenological features it generates, leaves it susceptible to an unresolved epistemological tension between first-person phenomenological reports and claims about the fundamental nature of consciousness and reality. This tension is examined through the concept of ontological tourism: the practice of treating phenomenological data...
Psychoactives
June 8, 2026
Fizza Mitter, Anton Sheptooha, Janni Leung et al.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains inadequately treated by existing pharmacological and psychological interventions, prompting growing interest in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Although randomised controlled trials have evaluated several psychedelic agents for PTSD, to our knowledge, no prior PTSD-specific synthesis has quantitatively examined multiple agent classes within a...
Psychoactives
May 12, 2026
Sean M. Viña
While prior research links psychedelic use to improved psychological outcomes, less is known about whether psychedelic exposure relates to engagement with formal mental health care when treatment is recognized as needed. Using publicly available, de-identified pooled data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2008–2019), this study examines whether lifetime psychedelic use is...
Psychoactives
April 13, 2026
J. Morgan Penberthy, Fatma Wise, Nicholas P. Cherup et al.
Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) affects approximately 10% of bereaved individuals and is now formally recognized in both the DSM-5-TR and ICD-11. Despite its prevalence, PGD often responds poorly to traditional therapeutic approaches. This manuscript outlines the protocol for an early-stage open-label feasibility trial investigating the use of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound, in treating PGD...
Psychoactives
April 1, 2026
Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira
In 2025, Psychoactives continued its clear upward trajectory, strengthening its position as an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to advancing the science of psychoactive substances, spanning pharmacology, clinical psychiatry, toxicology, neuroscience, forensic science, and public health [...]
Psychoactives
February 3, 2026
Eliana Rodrigues
Interest in psychoactive substances, including psychedelics, is rapidly expanding in medical, academic, and other popular fields. Despite the classifications established within the psychopharmacological scientific community, certain plants, animals, and fungi, as well as the substances obtained from them, have been misclassified by both the media and academic circles. This opinion piece aims to...
Psychoactives
January 6, 2026
Mayank Gupta, Aaron Krasner, Priyal Khurana
1 citation
Adolescent mental health conditions, particularly treatment-resistant depression (TRD), represent a growing public health challenge associated with high morbidity, functional impairment, and elevated suicide risk. Psychedelic-assisted therapies have shown robust antidepressant and transdiagnostic effects in rigorously controlled adult trials. Extending this work to adolescents is scientifically...
Psychoactives
December 24, 2025
Brendan Driscoll, Shaheen E. Lakhan
1 citation
Psychedelic-assisted therapy offers rapid and profound benefits for treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions but remains constrained by the need for intensive, clinic-based administration. Concurrently, advances in digital health technologies have introduced scalable tools. This systematic review evaluates the safety, efficacy, and implementation of digitally enabled psychedelic-assisted...
Psychoactives
December 17, 2025
Juuso Kähönen
2 citations
In a recent Psychoactives article, Bor Luen Tang argues against psychedelic moral bioenhancement (PMBE)—the use of classic psychedelics such as psilocybin to foster moral growth in healthy individuals [...]
Psychoactives
December 17, 2025
Bor Luen Tang
Kähönen argued that the harms associated with psychedelics have been overstated, while evidence for the latter’s moral enhancing effects was disregarded, in my earlier commentary. Here, I respond to these arguments and maintain that the notion of moral enhancement with psychedelics needs substantially more scientific evidence and extended bioethical debates.
Psychoactives
November 14, 2025
William Roseby, Catriona Osborn Moar
Serotonergic psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), are increasingly recognised as powerful tools to advance the understanding of consciousness and its relation to brain activity. Psychedelic research has informed neuroscientific theories that attempt to map neural observations of network connectivity and signal diversity to...
Psychoactives
November 2, 2025
Faith Ekoh, Shanice Rerrie, James Angud et al.
2 citations
Today’s research highlights the therapeutic potential of the hallucinogen psilocybin in the treatment of pathologies associated with mood, cognitive, and affective dysregulation. These domains of function are regulated by the serotonergic system, which can be influenced by sex hormones, like estrogen and testosterone, and psychedelic compounds including psilocybin. Current evidence supports a...
Psychoactives
September 11, 2025
Tereza Dleštíková
4 citations
Czechia has recently approved the medical use of psilocybin, marking a pivotal shift in the country’s drug policy landscape. This development paves the way for regulated therapeutic applications of psilocybin within clinical settings, while simultaneously prompting a timely discussion on the potential uses of psychedelics beyond strictly medical contexts. This commentary first outlines the...
Psychoactives
September 4, 2025
Sean Matthew Viña
2 citations
States like Hawai‘i are decriminalizing psychedelics based on emerging evidence linking their use to improved psychological well-being. Yet, in many cultural contexts, stigma surrounding mental illness may lead individuals to pursue non-traditional forms of healing, including psychedelics, in place of formal care. This study examines how psychedelic use relates to mental health...
Psychoactives
September 2, 2025
Kerem Kemal Soylemez, Emma Marie de Boo, Aysil Susuzlu et al.
2 citations
Dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which is characterised by cognitive decline, memory loss, and behavioural changes. Patients suffering from dementia often experience emotional distress, sadness and depression which also impacts the wellbeing of their caregivers. Recent research has explored the potential of psychedelics, such as psilocybin and LSD, when treating various...
Psychoactives
September 1, 2025
M Mercier, Cédric Mabilais, Vasileios Chytas et al.
Psychedelic substances have experienced a resurgence of clinical interest in recent years, particularly for their promising effects in the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. While evidence regarding their role in chronic pain management remains limited, emerging studies suggest potential therapeutic benefits. This case report describes a patient with persistent...
Psychoactives
August 20, 2025
Tayler Holborn, Fabrizio Schifano, Emma Smith et al.
1 citation
Numerous individuals suffer from mental health issues including depression and anxiety, resulting in substantial societal burden. Data suggests individuals are choosing to self-medicate with Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS); however, this phenomenon is poorly understood. We aimed to investigate which NPS are being used to self-medicate, evaluate their perceived effectiveness and examine...
Psychoactives
August 1, 2025
L. Cazorla, Sylvie Alaux, Caroline Amberger et al.
Despite growing evidence supporting the efficacy of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in treating major depressive disorder (MDD), identifying reliable psychopharmacological biomarkers remains necessary. Oxytocin, a neuropeptide implicated in social bonding and flexibility, is a promising candidate due to its release following serotonergic psychedelic administration in healthy individuals; however,...
Psychoactives
July 15, 2025
Bianca Villanova, Giordano Novak Rossi, Lorena Terene Lopes Guerra et al.
Pain is a protective mechanism that can be classified into acute and chronic types. Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew rich in dimethyltryptamine or DMT (a 5-HT2A receptor agonist), and harmine (a monoamine-oxidase (MAO) inhibitor) used for religious and therapeutic purposes. Previous preclinical and anecdotal evidence suggests that ayahuasca and its compounds have antinociceptive and...
Psychoactives
July 1, 2025
David W. Lawrence, Alex P. Di Battista, Michael G. Hutchison
1 citation
Background: Persisting symptoms after concussion is a complex syndrome warranting exploration into further treatment options. Emerging research highlights the potential of classic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, in managing neuropsychiatric conditions and promoting neuroprotection. Case Report: A case is presented of a 22-year-old male intercollegiate athlete who sustained a concussion and...
Psychoactives
June 29, 2025
Mathieu Fradet
Psychedelic treatments are emerging as promising interventions for many mental health conditions. These interventions are not offered in a standardized fashion across studies and between different healthcare centers. Beyond differences in substances and doses, there is also a great heterogeneity in the interventions provided by therapists. The current review offers a summary of important...
Psychoactives
June 25, 2025
Guillermo Escobar-Cornejo, Fernando P. Cárdenas, Diego Torres et al.
Objective: To provide a state of the art on the use, role, and function of music during psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) with ayahuasca. Introduction: Ayahuasca is a medicinal brew with psychoactive qualities used by indigenous communities throughout the Amazon region, and music is deemed crucial during ayahuasca experiences. In PAT, music forms part of the set and setting, but it lacks...
Psychoactives
June 25, 2025
Mitch Earleywine, Alyssa B. Oliva
While research on psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) continues to show promise, challenges in its clinical application persist. One relevant domain includes how supervision might enhance both client and trainee outcomes. Current data suggest that, despite supervisor reports and the enthusiasm of trainees, supervision accounts for extraordinarily little variance in treatment outcome. We propose...
Psychoactives
June 25, 2025
Lucija Vejmelka, Damir Gašpar
Psychedelic plants and fungi have been traditionally used in many cultures as part of ritual ceremonies and ancient medicinal treatments. In some regions, these psychoactive plants have already entered mainstream discourse through popular literature and art. Today, numerous academic and medical institutions are establishing dedicated departments to examine the benefits and risks of...