npj Mental Health Research
September 10, 2026
Lucas V. M. Cruz, Marcio S. C. Longo, Rafael Rodrigues et al.
Abstract This observational survey study investigated the relationship between prior ayahuasca experience and mental health and mindset outcomes. Participants planning to attend an ayahuasca ceremony completed a survey before their upcoming ayahuasca use. Measures included substance use, depression, anxiety, stress, spiritual well-being, aberrant salience, and metaphysical beliefs. Participants...
npj Mental Health Research
August 6, 2026
Elliot Marseille, Hannes Kettner, Tyrone J. Sgambati et al.
Abstract Psychiatric trials typically define success as symptom reduction, yet patients prioritize meaning, vitality, and functioning. This imbalance undervalues experiential benefits, distorting clinical, policy, and FDA decisions. Psychedelic trials illustrate this, where robust well-being gains sometimes accompany modest symptom effects. We argue well-being should be elevated to co-primary...
npj Mental Health Research
July 30, 2026
Lorraine Li, Paige Seath, Nadav Liam Modlin et al.
Abstract Research examining psychological outcomes following psychedelic use has grown substantially, yet the role of childhood trauma in shaping these responses remains insufficiently understood. This scoping review mapped the literature examining childhood trauma in relation to post-psychedelic psychological outcomes. Thirty-four sources met inclusion criteria and investigated substances...
npj Mental Health Research
July 27, 2026
J. Swainson, P. Grewal, S. Polard et al.
This scoping review maps literature for use of ketamine or esketamine with psychotherapy for depression or depressive symptoms. Forty-seven studies were identified including 4/47 (9%) randomized controlled trials, 4/47 (9%) open label trials, 27/47 (57%) observational or retrospective studies, and 12/47 (26%) individual case reports. Studies were categorized as Ketamine/Esketamine Combined with...
npj Mental Health Research
July 10, 2026
Constantin Volkmann, Michael Seitz, Ricarda Evens et al.
Psychedelics may influence personality traits, but longitudinal evidence on first-time use outside clinical settings remains limited. We followed 102 first-time psychedelic users and 1066 never-users over one year among Berlin university students. Personality was assessed with the Big Five Inventory at baseline and follow-up. Linear mixed-effects models showed small relative increases in...
npj Mental Health Research
April 2, 2026
Peng Tan, Yuqi Wu, Xinrong Chen et al.
3 citations
Depressive disorders are characterized by persistent negative affect, rumination, and impaired emotion regulation, contributing substantially to global disease burden. As recurrent rumination and negative attentional biases are central cognitive mechanisms of depression, interventions targeting these processes have gained increasing attention. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) effectively...
npj Mental Health Research
February 3, 2026
Anisha Rajan, Mahendra Kumar, Pranav Raj P
1 citation
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are recognised as effective psychosocial strategies for managing stress. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published up to August 2025 across the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, EBSCO and Google Scholar following the PRISMA guidelines. Seventeen randomised controlled trials (n = 1,641) met the inclusion criteria....
npj Mental Health Research
January 31, 2026
Clayton Olash, Derrick Matthew Buchanan, Randi Brown et al.
1 citation
Magnesium-ibogaine, a formulation combining ibogaine with pre- and post-treatment magnesium, was recently found to yield rapid clinical improvements in U.S. Special Operations veterans with TBI and PTSD. Yet, its therapeutic phenomenology during such healing is unknown. We analyzed post-session narratives from 30 male veterans who, after a single open-label magnesium-ibogaine treatment,...
npj Mental Health Research
January 29, 2026
Eirini K. Argyri, Flora Fraser, Stefan Schilling et al.
Psychedelic substances are increasingly recognized for their potential to catalyse transformative shifts in worldviews. Central to these transformations may be the integration of self-transcendent states. This mixed-methods study explored transformative psychedelic experiences, focussing on subsequent epistemic shifts. Ninety participants completed the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S), and the...
npj Mental Health Research
August 23, 2025
Vaibhav Tripathi, Lakshmi Bhaskar, Chhaya Kharya et al.
The pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues across the world. The limited availability of mental health professionals is preventing many from seeking help, which highlights the need for easily available mental health care routines like yoga, breathing, and meditation. A breath-based meditation technique known as Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) harnesses the power of breath to induce deep...
npj Mental Health Research
July 31, 2025
Xuefeng Xu, Haosen Ni, Huabin Wang et al.
Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is recognized as a mental health issue. Traditional interventions have limitations, but mindfulness meditation (MM) shows promise due to its flexibility and social acceptance. Study 1, fMRI data from 61 IGD patients and 60 healthy controls (HCs) were compared to assess functional connectivity (FC). Study 2- a randomized clinical trial, 80 IGD patients underwent...
npj Mental Health Research
April 24, 2025
Jacob Ross, Bruna Cuccurazzu, Dylan Delmar et al.
1 citation
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with poor hippocampal function and disrupted pattern recognition. Cannabis use is highly prevalent in individuals with PTSD, yet the impact on these cognitive functions is poorly understood. Participants (n = 111) with a range of PTSD symptoms with and without regular cannabis use completed the mnemonic similarity task. We hypothesized that...
npj Mental Health Research
February 7, 2025
Ari Brouwer, Joshua K Brown, Earth Erowid et al.
5 citations
Psychedelic therapy has the potential to become a revolutionary and transdiagnostic mental health treatment, yielding enduring benefits that are often attributed to the experiences that coincide with peak psychedelic effects. However, there may be an underrecognized temporal structure to this process that helps explain why psychedelic and related altered states of consciousness can have an...
npj Mental Health Research
October 6, 2024
Jack D. C. Dahan, David Dadiomov, Tijmen Bostoen et al.
13 citations
There is some evidence that the subjective effects of ketamine and other psychedelics like psilocybin are crucial for their therapeutic outcomes, such as treatment of depression or substance use disorder (SUD). We performed a meta-analysis and systematic review on the correlation of subjective symptoms and dissociation versus ketamine-induced therapeutic outcomes in patients with depression or...
npj Mental Health Research
July 2, 2024
Maryam Golafshani, Daniel Z. Buchman, Muhammad Ishrat Husain
3 citations
Given the renewed interest in the use of psychedelics for the treatment of mental and substance use disorders in recent decades, there has also been renewed discussion and debate about whether it is necessary or beneficial for those who study and deliver psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) to have had personal experience of using psychedelics. This paper provides a brief history of this...
npj Mental Health Research
February 20, 2024
Kush V. Bhatt, Cory R. Weissman
29 citations
Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic shown to have enduring antidepressant effects. Currently, the mechanism for its enduring effects is not well understood. Empathy and prosocial behavior may be important for understanding the therapeutic benefit of psilocybin. In this article we review the effect of psilocybin on empathy and prosocial behavior. Moreover, we propose that psilocybin may...
npj Mental Health Research
November 8, 2023
Omer A. Syed, Benjamin Tsang
4 citations
The recent years have seen an unprecedented surge of psychedelic research. Studies with psilocybin (colloquially known as magic mushrooms), in particular, have shown promise in ameliorating symptoms of treatment-refractory depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder, among others 1 , 2 . Microdosing, the practice of regularly taking roughly a tenth of full psychedelic doses, is becoming...