Current Psychiatry Reports
May 14, 2026
Jamarie Geller, Rachel M Pacilio, Amanda E. Downey et al.
There is growing evidence that psychedelics and associated treatment modalities may offer therapeutic benefits across a range of psychiatric conditions. Anorexia nervosa (AN), a serious and often treatment-resistant illness associated with significant morbidity and mortality, is one such condition for which psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) may hold promise. To date, research on PAT for AN has...
Current Psychiatry Reports
November 1, 2025
Christine J So, Courtney J Bolstad, Katherine E Miller
We review the recent published literature on nightmare-focused interventions, including imagery rehearsal therapy, for trauma-exposed adult populations. Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) and prazosin remain the most supported treatments, though results vary across studies. New consensus guidelines have led to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Nightmares (CBT-N), which integrates rescripting,...
Current Psychiatry Reports
June 1, 2025
Amishi P. Jha, Mary K Izaguirre, Amy B Adler
9 citations
Evidence suggests that mindfulness training (MT) may protect and strengthen military service members' attentional control functions, improving their performance and holistic fitness as they face the modern-day battlefield. Yet, implementation challenges must be addressed to realize MT's benefits consistently and at scale. Despite heterogeneity in MT program content, evaluation metrics, and...
Current Psychiatry Reports
February 1, 2025
Jamarie Geller, Eric Whitney
3 citations
There is a mental health crisis affecting youth, and the utility of existing treatments is often limited by lack of effectiveness and tolerability. The aim of this review is to report on outcomes of clinical trials for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for adults with depression and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and discuss recommendations for...
Current Psychiatry Reports
February 1, 2025
Andrew B. Newberg
3 citations
Neurotheology is a nascent field of research and scholarship that seeks to understand the relationship between the brain and religious and spiritual phenomena. In the context of integrative psychiatry, neurotheology offers an intriguing intermediary between understanding how spirituality and religion affect brain function, and how this might be related to changes in mental health. A number of...
Current Psychiatry Reports
December 1, 2024
Daan de Jonge, Pim B. van der Meer, Cornelis Kramers et al.
2 citations
In this narrative review, we discuss evidence for psilocybin- and LSD-assisted treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). We describe limitations of psychedelic research and posit methodological considerations when designing a trial in patients with both disorders. In AUD, a growing evidence base for psilocybin treatment shows a promising beneficial and...
Current Psychiatry Reports
November 1, 2024
Matthew J Reid, Hannes Kettner, Tessa F. Blanken et al.
4 citations
Abstract Purpose of the study Psilocybin is a rapidly-emerging treatment for depression, yet its impact on sleep is not well understood. We sought to explore the literature on sleep and psilocybin use, and explore the topic using our own primary data. Findings Whilst clinical trials demonstrate large depressive symptom improvements, the impact of psilocybin on sleep quality or insomnia...
Current Psychiatry Reports
April 1, 2024
John L. Havlik, Syed Wahid, Kayla M Teopiz et al.
30 citations
Purpose of Review We review recent advances in the treatment of treatment-resistant depression (TRD), a disorder with very limited treatment options until recently. We examine advances in psychotherapeutic, psychopharmacologic, and interventional psychiatry approaches to treatment of TRD. We also highlight various definitions of TRD in recent scientific literature. Recent Findings Recent...
Current Psychiatry Reports
October 1, 2023
Aaron Wolfgang, Charles W Hoge
15 citations
This review discusses the current and projected landscape of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), with a focus on clinical, legal, and implementation considerations in Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare systems. 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)- and psilocybin-assisted therapy have shown promising outcomes in efficacy, safety, tolerability, and...
Current Psychiatry Reports
December 1, 2022
Natalie Gukasyan, Colleen C Schreyer, Roland R. Griffiths et al.
29 citations
A growing body of research suggests psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) may be safe and effective for a variety of mental health conditions. Among these, eating disorders have been a recent target of interest. This review provides an up-to-date summary of the potential mechanisms and use of PAT in people diagnosed with eating disorders, with a focus on anorexia nervosa. Classic psychedelics may...
Current Psychiatry Reports
October 1, 2022
Gregory S. Barber, Scott T Aaronson
56 citations
Few treatments are available for patients with mood disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who have already failed multiple interventions. After several decades when research into psychedelics was effectively halted by federal legislation, the past several years have shown the re-emergence of thoughtful investigations studying the utility of compounds such as...
Current Psychiatry Reports
October 1, 2022
Damien Prouzeau, Ismaël Conejero, Peter L Voyvodic et al.
32 citations
We aim to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge about the efficacy of psilocybin in the treatment of depression, as well as its mechanisms of action. Psilocybin has a large, rapid, and persistent clinical effect in the treatment of resistant or end-of-life depression. Tolerance is good, with mild side effects limited to a few hours after dosing. The studies conducted to date...
Current Psychiatry Reports
June 4, 2019
Ian Hamilton, Mark Monaghan
80 citations
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This paper provides an update from the literature on understanding of the relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia. In particular, the paper focuses on the latest findings and remaining areas that require investigation. RECENT FINDINGS: Three hypotheses have emerged as potential explanations for the association between cannabis and schizophrenia, namely cannabis can...
Current Psychiatry Reports
October 11, 2018
Scott H Waltman, David Shearer, Bret A Moore
Post-traumatic nightmares (PTN) are a common and enduring problem for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other clinical presentations. PTN cause significant distress, are associated with large costs, and are an independent risk factor for suicide. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options for PTN exist. A previous review in this journal demonstrated that...
Current Psychiatry Reports
February 1, 2016
Charles Ksir, Carl L. Hart
Interest in the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis has increased dramatically in recent years, in part because of concerns related to the growing availability of cannabis and potential risks to health and human functioning. There now exists a plethora of scientific articles addressing this issue, but few provide a clear verdict about the causal nature of the cannabis-psychosis...
Current Psychiatry Reports
February 1, 2016
Michael Schredl
Although the relationship between dreaming and psychopathology has been studied quite extensively, research on dreaming in patients with personality disorders has been very scarce. In patients with borderline personality disorder, negatively toned dreams and heightened nightmare frequency have been found-characteristics not determined by co-morbid depression or posttraumatic stress disorder....
Current Psychiatry Reports
October 1, 2012
Monica Escamilla, Mercedes LaVoy, Bret A Moore et al.
Nightmares are a universal and timeless phenomenon. They occur in most healthy adults as well as a significant portion of clinical populations, especially those exposed to trauma. Considerable advances in the pharmacological and psychological treatment of post-traumatic nightmares have occurred over the last decade with continuing advances in psychological interventions over the last few years....
Current Psychiatry Reports
June 1, 2007
C Choong, M D Hunter, P W R Woodruff
The following article discusses the phenomenon of auditory hallucinations in those who do not suffer from schizophrenia. Research has shown the occurrence of auditory hallucinations in the general population to such an extent that they cannot be said to be pathognomonic of psychiatric illness. In addition, it has long been known that certain hallucinatory experiences occur in health, such as...
Current Psychiatry Reports
June 1, 2005
Christine Mohr, Olaf Blanke
Autoscopic phenomena (AP) are rare, illusory visual experiences during which the subject has the impression of seeing a second own body in extrapersonal space. AP consist of out-of-body experience, autoscopic hallucination, and heautoscopy. Recent neurologic reports support the role of multisensory integration deficits of body-related information and vestibular dysfunctions in AP at the...
Current Psychiatry Reports
June 1, 2005
Raffaele Manni
After the discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in 1953, oneiric activity was long thought to be associated uniquely with REM sleep. Subsequent evaluation of sleep in humans combining neurophysiologic, psychophysiologic, and, more recently, functional neuroimaging investigations, has instead shown that dreaming also occurs during non-REM (NREM) sleep. It has been documented that...
Current Psychiatry Reports
October 1, 2003
John H. Halpern
42 citations
Research of hallucinogen abuse rarely extends beyond epidemiology and observed pathology. Even less research has been completed on the special circumstances surrounding the religious use of hallucinogens or on potential therapeutic applications. Rather than offer another basic review on the well-known hazards of illicit hallucinogen use, this paper provides an overview and practice...