Psychedelics, such as ayahuasca, have shown therapeutic potential and are known to alter self-awareness dimensions. Recent studies have focused on the antidepressant properties of ayahuasca, showing that changes in self-perception such as ego-dissolution and mystical experiences are related to therapeutic outcomes. However, limited research has addressed how the individual's mindset (set),...
Ketamine is an important intervention for severe depression and trauma-related psychopathology, but the optimal way to provide therapeutic support during treatment remains unclear. Although ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is clinically appealing, maintaining therapist presence throughout every dosing session can be logistically difficult. Virtual reality (VR) may offer a structured, scalable,...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy and neurostimulation represent converging approaches to modulating dysfunctional brain circuits in treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders. This Perspective outlines shared mechanisms involving neuroplasticity and network reconfiguration, and examines ethical, regulatory, and infrastructural barriers to their translation. Bridging neuroscience, psychiatry, and...
Pregnancy is accompanied by numerous physical and psychological changes that can affect sexual quality of life and increase sexual distress in women. Identifying effective interventions to address these issues is essential. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral therapy on sexual distress and sexual quality of life in pregnant women. In this...
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been consistently associated with reductions in perceived stress and anxiety. One proposed mechanism underlying these effects involves a shift toward parasympathetic dominance during stress exposure, facilitating enhanced emotion regulation and physiological adaptability; however, empirical evidence on this mechanism remains inclusive. In this...
Recent advances in psychedelic-assisted therapies highlight their efficacy in treating various mental health conditions. Nevertheless, the fact that delivery is generally individualised may limit therapeutic outcomes by failing to capitalise on opportunities to build and harness a sense of shared social identity among participants in ways hypothesised by ‘social cure’ research. In line with...
Psilocybin-assisted therapies are innovative therapeutic approaches, particularly in the treatment of depression. However, there are sparse studies providing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence elucidating the underlying biological mechanisms that support clinical outcomes. This review aims to comprehensively gather all the evidence reported in psilocybin studies using fMRI...
Upwards of 50% of people do not respond to the primary treatment modalities for major depressive disorder (MDD), which has led to increased attention and use of alternative methods, including exercise and psychedelics. While interventions using either exercise or psychedelics have demonstrated largely positive results in isolation, their synergistic potential has yet to be explored. As such,...
Discover Mental HealthJanuary 8, 2026Mireya Velázquez-Paniagua, Laura Gómez-Virgilio, Blanca Margarita Gómez-Chavarín et al.
INTRODUCTION: In Mexico, 25–45% of medical students experience burnout syndrome, which may be reduced through mindfulness-based interventions (MBI). No study has evaluated this intervention’s impact on our country’s population. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effects of an eight-week MBI on medical students, professors and administrative staff from the Faculty of Medicine at the...
The renewed interest in psychedelics for mental health treatment presents both promise and complexity. Substances like psilocybin and MDMA have shown potential in addressing conditions such as PTSD and depression, particularly when administered in supportive contexts. Yet as these therapies move toward mainstream adoption, concerns arise about rapid medicalization, corporate monopolization, and...
Abstract This systematic review examines how cultural constructs of distress and the phenomenon of lycanthropy are understood within the context of Nagaland, emphasizing a social constructivist framework. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across Google Scholar, PubMed, and PsycINFO, ultimately shortlisting 24 methodologically sound studies relevant to cultural interpretations of...
Emotions consist of bodily sensations and emotional concepts. This study examined how sensitivity to bodily sensations and emotional vocabulary size, which encompasses knowledge of emotional concepts, independently impact depression, and whether mindfulness can modulate these effects. A cross-sectional online survey involving 470 participants assessed the influence of somatosensory sensitivity...
Mindfulness improves mental health and clinical conditions including psychosis and modulates attentional processes including salience-the automatic direction of attention to prominent elements. Aberrant salience-the exaggerated significance attribution to perceived elements-is associated with psychotic experiences, but its interactions with mindfulness remain unexplored. This...
Despite considerable efforts, tobacco use disorder persists as a significant public health issue. The effectiveness of current smoking cessation therapies is limited, leading to a growing interest in alternative treatment approaches such as psychedelics. The aim of this review is to evaluate the scientific evidence regarding the role of psychedelics in smoking cessation. To identify relevant...
Discover Mental HealthJuly 1, 2024Keshav Juneja, Sabah Afroze, Zeel Goti et al.6 citations
Ketamine, a pharmacological agent that acts as an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, has garnered considerable interest because of its notable and expeditious antidepressant properties observed in individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) who exhibit resistance to conventional therapeutic interventions. A comprehensive and rigorous systematic review was...
Discover Mental HealthMay 28, 2024Joshua G. Kovoor, Sanjana Santhosh, Brandon Stretton et al.4 citations
Background This scoping review aimed to characterise near-death experiences in the setting of cardiac arrest, a phenomenon that is poorly understood and may have clinical consequences. Method PubMed/MEDLINE was searched to 23 July 2023 for prospective studies describing near-death experiences in cardiac arrest. PRISMA-ScR guidelines were adhered to. Qualitative and quantitative data were...
Depression is a disorder with variable presentation. Selecting treatments and dose-finding is, therefore, challenging and time-consuming. In addition, novel antidepressants such as ketamine have sparse optimization evidence. Insights obtained from metabolomics may improve the management of patients. The objective of this study was to determine whether compounds in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)...
-enantiomer, intranasal esketamine, for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Initial studies found that a single subanesthetic-dose IV ketamine infusion rapidly (within one day) improved depressive symptoms in individuals with MDD and bipolar depression, with antidepressant effects lasting three to seven days. In 2019, esketamine received FDA approval as an adjunctive treatment for...