World Journal of Psychiatry
May 19, 2023
Lakshan N Fonseka, Benjamin K.p. Woo
12 citations
Psilocybin and MDMA, designated breakthrough therapies by the FDA in 2017 for post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment-resistant depression, are being studied for rapid improvement in psychiatric conditions. Classic psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca, along with non-classic drugs such as MDMA and ketamine, show potential for treating trauma and depressive disorders. This review focuses on psilocybin and MDMA in psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), as they compose most of the literature. It discusses their current and future uses, emphasizing their role in trauma and related comorbidities, and suggests future research directions including wearables, standardized symptom scales, therapy styles, and adverse drug reaction assessment.
World Journal of Psychiatry
April 19, 2024
Edison Iglesias de Oliveira Vidal, Luiz Fernando Alvarenga Ribeiro, Marco Antonio De Carvalho-Filho et al.
6 citations
High rates of depression, burnout, and suicide risk among medical students, residents, and physicians compared to other careers indicate a mental health crisis in the profession. This crisis and inadequate interpersonal skill acquisition during medical education stem from the interaction between a challenging environment and individuals' mental capital. Mindfulness-based practices help develop key components of mental capital such as resilience, flexibility, and learning skills, and enhance empathy, compassion, self-awareness, conflict resolution, and relational abilities. Evidence supporting mindfulness-based interventions is growing, and many medical schools have integrated mindfulness into curricula. While not a panacea, there is an opportunity to spread and study mindfulness programs to address longstanding shortcomings in medical education and health systems.
World Journal of Psychiatry
April 19, 2025
Xue-Jian Wang
2 citations
Postoperative delirium (POD) is a common but underrecognized complication, especially in elderly neurosurgical patients. It is a transient syndrome of encephalopathy marked by disturbances in consciousness, orientation, cognition, perception, and emotional regulation, sometimes with hallucinations or agitation. POD prolongs mechanical ventilation, intensive care stays, and hospitalization, and severely reduces quality of life after discharge. This review examines the definition, diagnostic criteria, pathogenesis, and risk factors of POD in neurosurgical patients, aiming to improve clinical diagnosis and treatment.
World Journal of Psychiatry
April 19, 2025
Carmen Borrás-sansaloni, Marina Ricco-Pérez, Antoni Mayol et al.
1 citation
Adding mindfulness-based interventions to integrated rehabilitation treatment for people with psychosis reduces emotional withdrawal and social withdrawal, two specific negative symptoms that were not improved by rehabilitation alone. Negative symptoms such as emotional blunting and lack of interest in daily activities are difficult to treat with standard antipsychotic drugs and psychological therapies. In a randomized controlled trial, participants who received mindfulness training showed greater improvement in emotional and social engagement compared with those who received only integrated rehabilitation. The findings suggest that mindfulness can target particular negative symptoms that otherwise remain unaddressed.
World Journal of Psychiatry
July 8, 2026
Yu-Peng Liu, Chen-Chen Shen, Jing Li et al.
In patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis, an 8-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy program was associated with greater improvements in anxiety, sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and quality of life compared with routine psychological support. At both treatment end and 3-month follow-up, the mindfulness group showed significantly reduced anxiety symptoms, lower new-onset anxiety, and better sleep quality, including improved sleep onset latency, total sleep time, fewer sleep disorders, and less daytime dysfunction. Depressive symptoms and both mental and physical quality of life also improved more with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy than with routine support.
World Journal of Psychiatry
June 30, 2026
Ling Zhu, Lu-Yao Ji, Chao Shi et al.
Mindfulness training combined with usual care reduced anxiety and depression more than usual care alone in a randomized trial of 133 patients with anxiety or depression symptoms. After eight weeks, the mindfulness group scored lower on the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (20.88 vs 25.95) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (21.24 vs 26.37) and higher on mindfulness and resilience measures. Psychological resilience partially mediated the improvements, accounting for about 10% of the anxiety reduction and 19% of the depression reduction. The results suggest mindfulness works both directly and by strengthening resilience, supporting its use as an add-on treatment.
World Journal of Psychiatry
June 30, 2026
Jing Tong, Jun Cheng, Shu-Min Gao et al.
A retrospective study of 120 schizophrenia patients found that combining mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) with narrative nursing improved treatment adherence, reduced anxiety and depression, and enhanced quality of life more than usual care alone. After 8 weeks, the combined-intervention group scored higher on medication adherence and lower on anxiety, depression, and psychiatric symptom scales, with all differences statistically significant. The authors conclude that integrating MBSR and narrative nursing has strong clinical value for schizophrenia patients.
World Journal of Psychiatry
June 26, 2026
Jia-zhao Zhang, Tian-Tian Wang, Jing Zhang et al.
Schizophrenia involves marked abnormalities in consciousness, particularly in the interplay between implicit and explicit cognitive processing. Evidence from visual masking and mismatch negativity paradigms indicates deficits from preattentive stages to conscious access. Metacognitive impairments in error and source monitoring suggest implicit processing fails to achieve stable explicit representation. These abnormalities are linked to predictive coding errors, thalamocortical dysconnectivity, and aberrant neural synchrony. This framework connects micro-level sensory deficits with macro-level psychotic phenomenology and may guide future transdiagnostic neuromodulatory interventions.
World Journal of Psychiatry
May 19, 2025
Ning Lu, Kuo-Cherh Huang
Combining the chemotherapy drug epirubicin with mindfulness interventions improves immune function, reduces tumor markers, lessens depression severity, enhances quality of life, alleviates cancer-related fatigue, and increases nursing satisfaction in patients with urinary system tumors and depression, compared to standard care with mitomycin. The study included 110 patients and notes limitations including a small sample size and short duration. The findings suggest that integrating mindfulness interventions into cancer treatment can address both physical and psychological distress.
World Journal of Psychiatry
April 19, 2025
Qiong-Wei Li, Yan Yang, Xue-Jiao Gao et al.
A four-week Qi-based mindfulness therapy (QMT) program significantly reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia in adults with mild-to-moderate depression. In a self-controlled trial with 18 participants aged 18–65, scores on the 17 Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, Self-rating Anxiety Scale, and Insomnia Severity Index all decreased significantly after the intervention compared to before. The findings suggest QMT is an effective nonpharmacological treatment for these symptoms in this population.
World Journal of Psychiatry
December 19, 2025
Qin-Qin Sun, Fei-Fei Ke, Hong-You Zhou et al.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) therapy significantly improves anxiety, depression, sexual function, and relationship satisfaction in patients who have undergone radical cervical cancer surgery. In a study of 280 patients, those receiving MBSR showed greater reductions in anxiety and depression scores than those receiving routine care alone. The proportion of patients with clinically significant anxiety dropped from 69.3% to 21.4% in the MBSR group, compared to a smaller decline in the control group. Sexual dysfunction incidence was lower (42.9% vs 67.9%), and both patients and their partners reported higher sexual relationship satisfaction. MBSR was most effective in younger patients (≤55 years) and, along with partner support, was an independent positive predictor of improved psychosexual adaptation.
World Journal of Psychiatry
September 19, 2025
Rong-Rong Zhou, Ling-Long Chen, Le-Dan Lin
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) helps emergency department nurses lower anxiety, depressive symptoms, and emotional exhaustion, while improving workplace well-being, empathy, and job satisfaction. MBSR works by enhancing emotional regulation and interoceptive awareness, with physiological benefits such as improved heart rate variability. Gaps remain in long-term efficacy studies, personalized interventions, and integration with other approaches. Future research should focus on biomarker-driven programs, longitudinal studies, and scalable implementation strategies.
World Journal of Psychiatry
April 19, 2025
Hasan Belli
Dissociative psychosis and dissociative schizophrenia are clinical concepts that may offer new perspectives on mental disorders. Research has not demonstrated a clear and valid relationship between dissociation, childhood traumatic experiences, and schizophrenia or psychotic spectrum disorders, though some statistical comparisons support the existence of these clinical manifestations. Dissociation, childhood traumatic experiences, and positive psychotic symptoms may be prominent in dissociative psychosis and schizophrenia, while intense negative symptoms may indicate classical schizophrenia. Psychometric tests can help detect dissociative psychosis symptoms. Psychotic individuals with traumatic experiences may benefit from trauma-focused treatment.
World Journal of Psychiatry
September 19, 2022
Ying-Qi Gu, Yi Zhu
Mindfulness meditation appears to influence mental health through changes in gene expression, brain circuits, and neural networks. Evidence shows that mindfulness practices affect stress-related inflammatory markers by altering gene expression in immune cells. The review identifies three key brain networks involved: the default mode network, central executive network, and salience network. However, more research is needed to fully understand the neuropsychological mechanisms by which mindfulness meditation alleviates symptoms of mental disorders.
World Journal of Psychiatry
June 19, 2021
Hewa Artin, S. Zisook, D. Ramanathan
Ketamine and serotonergic psychedelics show promise as rapid-acting antidepressants, but their mechanisms remain unclear. This review examines how depression, classic antidepressants, ketamine, and serotonergic psychedelics affect markers of neuroplasticity across cellular, molecular, electrophysiological, functional, structural, and psychological levels. The goal is to explore whether neuroplasticity plays a role in how serotonergic psychedelics produce their therapeutic effects. Classic antidepressants take weeks to months to work and are ineffective for many patients, prompting interest in novel treatments. Ketamine has demonstrated clinically promising results and contributed to new explanatory models of depression involving neuroplasticity.