Frontiers in Psychiatry
December 5, 2022
Elliot Marseille, Stefano Bertozzi, James G. Kahn
51 citations
After a long hiatus, psychiatry is undergoing a resurgence of interest in psychedelic drugs as therapy for a wide range of mental health disorders Accumulating clinical evidence suggests substantial potential for psychedelics used in a therapeutic context, as treatment for, among other disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and addictions to tobacco, opioids and alcohol....
Frontiers in Psychiatry
December 5, 2022
Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Vagner Deuel de Oliveira Tavares, Ana Cecília de Menezes Galvão et al.
14 citations
Introduction The understanding of biological responses to psychedelics with antidepressant potential is imperative. Here we report how a set of acute parameters, namely emotional (depressive symptoms), cognitive (psychedelic experience), and physiological (salivary cortisol), recorded during an ayahuasca dosing session, modulated serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), serum cortisol...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
December 2, 2022
Torsten Passie, Jeffrey Guss, Rainer Krähenmann
71 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and similar psychoactive drugs have been used in psychotherapy since 1949, when the first clinical study with lower-dose LSD showed therapeutically relevant effects. This caused an intense interest among psychotherapists and researchers, alike, on an international scale. In 1960, the use of serial lower-dose LSD/psilocybin sessions in a psychoanalytical...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
December 1, 2022
Jagpaul Kaur Deol, Caroline A. Maccallum, Lindsay A. Lo et al.
95 citations
The interest in psilocybin as a therapeutic approach has grown exponentially in recent years. Despite increasing access, there remains a lack of practical guidance on the topic for health care professionals. This is particularly concerning given the medical complexity and vulnerable nature of patients for whom psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy may be considered. This article aims to provide...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
November 29, 2022
Ana María Ortiz Bernal, Charles L. Raison, Rafael Lancelotta et al.
26 citations
Background The psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT has shown clinical potential due to its short duration and ability to induce mystical experiences. However, a phenomenon known as “reactivations” (similar to “flashbacks”) is a poorly understood and frequently reported phenomenon which appears associated with 5-MeO-DMT use and warranted further investigation. Aims This study examined whether differences in...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
November 11, 2022
Binyu Teng, Dan Wang, Conghui Su et al.
38 citations
BackgroundThe Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) is a self-report questionnaire developed by Dr. Mehling that has been widely used to assess multiple dimensions of interoceptive awareness. To further improve the MAIA, Mehling developed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 (MAIA-2). The goal of this study is to systematically translate...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
November 3, 2022
Lauren Okano, Bri Deyo, Alida Brandenburg et al.
24 citations
Research of psychedelic assisted therapies is at an all-time high, though few studies highlight extra-pharmacological factors that may affect treatment efficacy. One critical set of attributes includes the therapeutic setting itself, which describe the physical and socio-cultural environments in which the drug-assisted session occurs. Despite enduring consensus of the influence of setting,...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
November 3, 2022
Devon Christie, Berra Yazar-Klosinski, Ekaterina Nosova et al.
8 citations
IntroductionIncreasing evidence demonstrates 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) may be a safe and effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There is growing interest in MDMA-AT to address a range of other health challenges. Chronic pain and PTSD are frequently comorbid, reciprocally interdependent conditions, though the possible role of...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
October 26, 2022
Tor-Morten Kvam, Ivar W Goksøyr, Lowan H. Stewart et al.
11 citations
Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a world-leading cause of disability. The available treatments are not effective in all patients, and there is a significant need for more effective treatment options. Here we present the protocol for an investigator-initiated and publicly funded trial of MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) for MDD. This single-site, open-label study investigates the...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
October 12, 2022
Robert J Sottile, Thomas Vida
30 citations
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a devastating psychiatric disorder afflicting millions of people around the world. Characterized by severe anxiety, intrusive thoughts, pervasive nightmares, an assortment of somatic symptoms, associations with severe long-term health problems, and an elevated risk of suicide, as much as 40–70% of patients suffer from refractory disease....
Frontiers in Psychiatry
October 10, 2022
Christopher S. Stauffer, Melanie Brown, Dee Adams et al.
40 citations
Introduction Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people experience stigma, discrimination, trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at higher rates compared to the general population; however, TGD people have been underrepresented in PTSD research. Clinical trials of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy demonstrate promising safety and efficacy for the...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
October 3, 2022
Jordi Camarasa, Pol Puigseslloses, Edurne Urquizu et al.
5 citations
The utility of classical drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders (e.g., antidepressants, anxiolytics) is often limited by issues of lack of efficacy, delayed onset of action or side effects. Psychoactive substances have a long history of being used as tools to alter consciousness and as a gateway to approach the unknown and the divinities. These substances were initially obtained from plants...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 28, 2022
K. Hassan, W. Struthers, Aditya Sankarabhotla et al.
25 citations
Intravenous and intranasal ketamine have been shown to be effective therapeutic options in patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The use of sublingual (SL), rapid dissolve ketamine tablets (RDT) offers a novel approach for delivery for mental health indications. This study assessed the effectiveness and safety of self-administration of off-label, SL, rapid dissolve...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 27, 2022
William P. Barone, Michiko Mitsunaga-Whitten, Lia Osunfunláyò Blaustein et al.
14 citations
Anxiety associated with life-threatening illness (LTI) is a pervasive mental health issue with a wide impact. A spectrum of traditional pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies are available, but offer varying success in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life. We explore a novel therapy for this condition by assessing prominent thematic elements from participant narrative accounts of a...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 23, 2022
Sepideh Hariri, Ramana V. Vishnubhotla, Preeti U. Reed et al.
Introduction Anxiety and depression have increased dramatically 2–3-fold with the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an urgent need for safe, cost-effective, and scalable approaches to alleviate this parallel mental health pandemic. Meditation has previously been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Furthermore, online delivery of mind-body interventions will be impactful in...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 21, 2022
Laurent Elkrief, Olivier Payette, Jean-Nicolas Foucault et al.
15 citations
About a third of patients suffering from major depression develop treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Although repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and intravenous ketamine have proven effective for the management of TRD, many patients remain refractory to treatment. We present the case of a patient suffering from bipolar TRD. The patient was referred to us after failure to...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 20, 2022
Lawrence Fischman
9 citations
Participants in MDMA- and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy often emerge from these treatments with new beliefs about themselves and the world. Studies have linked changed beliefs with mystical experiences reported by some participants during drug sessions. While there has been some debate about the epistemic value of drug-induced mystical experiences, and about the need for consent to...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
July 22, 2022
Lai Fong Chan, Luke Sy-Cherng Woon, Nuur Asyikin Mohd Shukor et al.
2 citations
A significant proportion of patients with treatment-resistant depression do not attain functional recovery despite administration of multiple steps of pharmacotherapeutic strategies. This highlights the elusiveness of meeting unmet needs in existing pharmacotherapies for treatment-resistant depression. There is accumulating evidence that antidepressant agents involving the glutamatergic system...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
July 14, 2022
Elisabeth Schramm, Christoph Breuninger, Rainer Wohlfarth et al.
BackgroundFor relapse prevention in depression, conventional mindfulness programs such as the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy proved to be useful. However, early life trauma is a risk factor for having adverse experiences during meditation. Thus, for this patient group mindfulness skills are often difficult to learn and may be facilitated by using animals and a nature setting.MethodsThe aim...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
July 12, 2022
Kwonmok Ko, Gemma Knight, James Rucker et al.
296 citations
The mystical experience is a potential psychological mechanism to influence outcome in psychedelic therapy. It includes features such as oceanic boundlessness, ego dissolution, and universal interconnectedness, which have been closely linked to both symptom reduction and improved quality of life. In this review, 12 studies of psychedelic therapy utilizing psilocybin, ayahuasca, or ketamine were...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
July 7, 2022
Maggie Kiraga, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Malin V. Uthaug et al.
24 citations
Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric disorders among Western countries. Evidence-based treatment modalities including pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral therapy result in deficient treatment responses. Historical and recent research suggests psychedelic drugs may be efficacious in alleviating anxiety-related symptoms among healthy and clinical populations. The main...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
June 17, 2022
Andrew Beswerchij, Dominic Sisti
9 citations
We argue that non-stigmatizing and precise terminology grounded in the medical model will advance both the science and public acceptance of psychedelics. Researchers and clinicians should take care to distinguish between medical, recreational, and spiritual uses to set clear boundaries and expectations for patients. Ethically fraught or stigmatizing terms should be replaced with terminology...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
June 9, 2022
Holger C Bringmann, Martin Bogdanski, G. Seifert et al.
6 citations
Background The scientific evaluation of mind-body-interventions (MBI), including yoga and meditation, has increased significantly in recent decades. However, evidence of MBI's efficacy on biological parameters is still insufficient. Objectives In this study, we used HRV analysis to evaluate a novel MBI as a treatment of outpatients with mild to moderate depressive disorder. The Meditation-Based...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
May 26, 2022
Igor J. Pietkiewicz, Urszula Kłosińska, Radosław Tomalski
12 citations
Few studies on Possession Trance Disorder (PTD) describe diagnostic and research procedures in detail. This case study presents the clinical picture of a Caucasian Roman-Catholic woman who had been subjected to exorcisms because of her problems with affect regulation, lack of control over unaccepted sexual impulses, and somatoform symptoms accompanied by alterations in consciousness. It uses...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
May 25, 2022
Kevin Mintz, Brinn Gammer, Amanda Khan et al.
13 citations
Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of clinical trials for psychedelic therapies as treatments for a wide range of psychiatric conditions. We are concerned that research organizations overseeing these trials have neglected the inclusion of individuals with physical and sensory disabilities. We suggest that psychedelic research organizations should prioritize and plan...