Journal of Psychiatric Research
January 1, 2025
Carolina Mariño-narvaez, Borja Romero-Gonzalez, Jose A Puertas-Gonzalez et al.
7 citations
A mindfulness-based stress reduction program for hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced symptoms of somatization, depression, and anxiety, and improved mindfulness skills, self-compassion, and body awareness. In a randomized trial with 97 hospital staff, those in the program showed significant improvements compared to a control group in depression, anxiety, somatization, observing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, nonreactivity, self-kindness, mindfulness, self-judgment, isolation, and body awareness. The findings suggest that teaching hospital staff to connect with their feelings and thoughts without judgment and with self-compassion can protect against worsening psychopathological symptoms during crises.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
December 28, 2024
Clara Sayk, Nicole Koch, Janine Stierand et al.
6 citations
Up to 45% of people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience insomnia and nightmares, which worsen emotion regulation, sleep quality, and arousal. Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT), the standard treatment for nightmares, had not been tested in BPD. In a pilot study, 22 individuals with BPD received eight sessions of group IRT added to inpatient treatment, and were compared with 22 matched controls. Nightmare symptoms improved significantly during the intervention. The IRT group also showed greater reductions in intrusions, hyperarousal, and anxiety than the control group. IRT appears feasible and may reduce nightmare, trauma, and anxiety symptoms in BPD, though larger randomized trials are needed.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
July 1, 2024
Yen-Han Lee, Yen-Chang Chang, Mack Shelley et al.
6 citations
Sexual minority adults in the United States—particularly those identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual—are more likely than their heterosexual peers to perceive illicit drug use (LSD, heroin, cocaine) as low risk. Analysis of five waves of a national survey (2015–2019) with over 205,000 participants showed that among men, about 11% viewed illicit drug use as moderate risk and 2% as low risk; among women, about 6% viewed it as moderate risk and 1% as low risk. After accounting for sex, identifying as lesbian/gay or bisexual was associated with higher odds of perceiving low risk compared to heterosexual identification. Prevention strategies should address these disparities.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
August 1, 2025
Elizabeth Wassenaar, Dan V. Blalock, Alan Duffy et al.
4 citations
Ketamine is safe for patients with eating disorders who also have treatment-resistant depression or bipolar depression, even when medical or nutritional instability is present due to disordered eating. A retrospective analysis of 104 patients receiving higher levels of care for their eating disorder found no safety concerns with ketamine treatment. The findings indicate that ketamine can be used with medical monitoring in this challenging population, despite the complications of malnutrition and other behaviors that often accompany eating disorders.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
August 1, 2025
Lucas F Borkel, Jaime Rojas-Hernández, Domingo J Quintana-Hernández et al.
4 citations
Psychedelic therapy, while physiologically and psychologically safe, can alter users' beliefs, including inducing paranormal beliefs. This paper introduces the concept of epistemic criteria—the principles people use to validate and justify their beliefs—and hypothesizes that psychedelics may change beliefs by modifying these criteria. The authors argue that this potential, under-researched risk highlights ethical and epistemic challenges, vindicating the importance of epistemology in clinical and psychotherapeutic settings. Further research is needed to determine the extent of this risk.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
March 1, 2025
Lőrinc Frivaldszky, Kincső Lőrincz, Jakub Hoferica et al.
4 citations
Perioperative administration of esketamine to women undergoing cesarean section is associated with a lower rate of postpartum depression (PPD) at 3–7 days and 28–42 days after delivery, with odds ratios of 0.43 and 0.59, respectively. Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale scores were also significantly lower at 3–7 days postpartum. The analysis, based on 17 eligible trials, suggests that esketamine is safe compared to placebo or standard care. PPD affects 14% of women after childbirth.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
November 27, 2025
Tor-Morten Kvam, Ivar W Goksøyr, Joanna Róg et al.
3 citations
In a small long-term follow-up of twelve people with major depressive disorder, MDMA-assisted therapy—two MDMA dosing sessions combined with nine psychotherapy sessions—led to sustained reductions in depression severity and disability seven months after baseline. Depression scores on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale and disability scores on the Sheehan Disability Scale remained significantly lower than before treatment, with no significant changes from the immediate post-treatment visit. Suicidal ideation did not exceed pre-study levels. The results suggest lasting treatment effects and safety, though the authors call for larger controlled trials to confirm these preliminary findings.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
August 1, 2025
Yaxin Ju, Yuan Liu, Li Tan et al.
3 citations
An analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System from 2004 to 2023 identified 21 drugs potentially linked to increased suicidal ideation risk in children aged 6–17. Among 4,779 valid cases, montelukast was the most commonly reported drug, and esketamine showed the highest statistical signal. The most common indications were ADHD, depression, acne, and asthma. Cumulative incidence of suicidal ideation within 90 days was 51.6% in males and 58.8% in females; within 360 days it was 76.9% and 85.3%, respectively. The findings suggest specific medications may pose elevated risk, but further research is needed to confirm.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
May 26, 2025
Bjørn Holmøy, Tor-Morten Kvam, Kristoffer Andreas Aamodt Andersen et al.
3 citations
A Norwegian translation of the Challenging Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) shows strong reliability and validity for assessing adverse psychedelic experiences. An online survey of 729 Norwegian recreational psychedelic users, mostly male (73%) and aged 26–35 (41%), with 90% having used LSD or psilocybin, confirmed the original 7-factor structure. The translated CEQ demonstrated excellent internal consistency (alpha = 0.94) and good overall model fit. The tool also showed factorial invariance across gender and psychiatric status, and convergent validity through relationships between reported difficulty and factors like fear, grief, insanity, and death. This provides Norwegian researchers with a culturally adapted, psychometrically valid tool for evaluating complex adverse reactions to psychedelic use.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
April 1, 2025
Kristian Elersič, Anamarija Banjac, Marko Živin et al.
3 citations
Ketamine, a fast-acting antidepressant, is a racemic mixture of R- and S-ketamine. In a preclinical study using Wistar-Kyoto rats (a depression model) and Wistar rats (controls), researchers compared behavioral effects of R- and S-ketamine at 10 mg/kg in a clinically relevant treatment protocol. S-ketamine produced stronger acute psychomotor effects (locomotor stimulation, ataxia, stereotypy) than R-ketamine, and Wistar-Kyoto rats were more sensitive to these effects. After repeated treatment, sensitization to locomotor stimulation and tolerance to ataxic effects of S-ketamine developed. No persistent changes in working memory, anxiety, or behavioral despair were found. Results suggest depressed individuals may be more prone to negative side effects, but tolerance may develop with repeated treatment.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
April 1, 2024
Lena Vera Danyeli, Zümrüt Duygu Sen, Lejla Colic et al.
3 citations
In healthy men, a thinner posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is linked to a stronger feeling of disembodiment after a low dose of ketamine, a drug that can rapidly relieve depression. The study measured cortical thickness in two brain regions—the PCC and the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC)—and found that only PCC thickness correlated with the altered sense of self (disembodiment). No such link appeared for the pgACC. These results suggest the PCC plays a key role in ketamine's effects on self-experience, a feature shared with other fast-acting antidepressants that also produce psychedelic-like effects.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
October 30, 2025
Isabella S Ji, M Cheng, Kayla M Teopiz et al.
2 citations
Ketamine and esketamine, NMDA receptor antagonists, are effective for depressive symptoms in major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but functional impairments in work, social, and family life often persist even when mood improves. This systematic review of randomized controlled trials found no controlled studies on ketamine's effect on functional outcomes, highlighting a major gap. For esketamine, nine studies showed significant improvements: Sheehan Disability Scale scores dropped by an average of 13.6 points versus 9.4 for placebo, and workplace productivity loss, presenteeism, and activity impairment all significantly decreased. Esketamine thus improves both depressive symptoms and daily functioning, especially at work.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
June 19, 2025
Valerio Ricci, Ilenia di Muzio, Mancusi Gianluca et al.
2 citations
Synthetic cannabinoid users experiencing first-episode psychosis show more severe positive psychotic symptoms, persistent aberrant salience, and limited recovery of alexithymia over six months compared to natural cannabis users and non-users. Dissociative symptoms are more prominent in both user groups, with synthetic cannabinoid users showing minimal improvement. Negative symptoms are higher in non-users but decrease across all groups. Alexithymia correlates with specific aberrant salience subscales, particularly Feelings of Increased Significance and Sense Sharpening. These findings indicate synthetic cannabinoids are associated with more severe and persistent psychotic symptoms and emotional dysregulation than natural cannabis.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
December 1, 2022
Chris R Brewin, Kirsty Phillips, John Morton et al.
2 citations
Voice-hearers typically report about four distinct voices, most perceived as male and with negative content. Child-aged voices are significantly less negative than other voices except those perceived as elderly. Variability in voice characteristics is greater between different voices within an individual than between different utterances of the same voice. These findings are inconsistent with cognitive models that attribute voices to misattributed inner speech and better support a dissociation model of voice-hearing. The results suggest that classifying voices by subtype or dimensional methods may be useful, and that clinical assessment should more systematically evaluate the multiplicity of voices.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
January 19, 2026
Gwynnevere Suter, Ian Apperly, L. Zhang et al.
1 citation
Reality monitoring—the ability to remember whether information came from one's own mind or from the outside world—is often impaired in clinical conditions, but no prior review had compared this ability across dissociation and psychosis. A systematic review of four high-quality papers (482 participants) found a small but significant negative association between reality monitoring and dissociation, indicating slight impairment. A narrative review of psychosis showed that clinical psychosis is robustly linked to impaired reality monitoring and an externalizing bias (attributing internal information to an external source), while results for non-clinical psychotic-like experiences were mixed. Comparing the two fields suggests a shared cognitive basis, but no studies have examined clinical dissociation or source-attribution biases, leaving the comparison incomplete.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
July 1, 2026
K S de Freitas Goncalves, Vagner Deuel de O Tavares, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes et al.
In patients with treatment-resistant depression receiving up to eight weekly subcutaneous doses of esketamine, those who responded to treatment (≥50% reduction in MADRS scores) showed significantly higher levels of dissociation, particularly derealization, compared with non-responders. Depersonalization and amnesia scores also tended to be higher among responders, though these differences were not statistically significant. The authors suggest that dissociative experiences, especially derealization, may be clinically relevant correlates of antidepressant outcomes, but note that further prospective studies with larger samples and dose-controlled designs are needed before clinical utility can be established.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
July 1, 2026
Malcolm Hopwood, David Codyre, David Barton et al.
In a post-hoc subgroup analysis of an Early Access Program in Australia and New Zealand, 28 of 84 participants (33.3%) with treatment-resistant depression who received esketamine nasal spray plus a newly-initiated oral antidepressant over 16 weeks were classified as responders (≥50% decrease in HAMD-17 score). Responders showed mean improvements in depression severity (71.2%), quality of life (29.5% on AQoL-8D), and work productivity (≥11.9% on WPAI:SHP), with the largest gains in mental health (32.9%) and overall work productivity loss (35.9%). Results should be interpreted cautiously due to the post-hoc design, short follow-up, small sample, and missing data.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
June 23, 2026
Júlio César Claudino Dos Santos, Sofia Januário Bolan, Guilherme Lodetti da Silva et al.
Psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and ketamine are being explored as potential treatments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a condition marked by social communication deficits, repetitive behaviors, and sensory differences, often with anxiety and emotional dysregulation. These drugs may modulate serotonin and glutamate signaling, enhance neuroplasticity, and reorganize brain networks. Current evidence does not support treating core ASD symptoms like social communication deficits or repetitive behaviors, but psychedelics may help with associated issues such as social anxiety, emotional dysregulation, cognitive rigidity, and co-occurring mood symptoms. Direct clinical studies in ASD remain scarce, and ethical and safety concerns, especially for pediatric and neurodivergent populations, are noted.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
June 12, 2026
Juliana Lima Constantino, Tobias Stephan Freimann, Jens H van Dalfsen et al.
Oral esketamine can be an effective and well-tolerated treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but about half of those treated do not respond. This study tested whether sociodemographic and clinical features, including depressive symptoms and treatment resistance, could predict how much depressive symptoms would improve in 131 TRD patients receiving individually adjusted oral esketamine doses (0.5 mg/kg to 3 mg/kg) twice weekly for six weeks. Machine learning models—linear regression, elastic net, and random forest—failed to predict symptom change above chance. The findings suggest that oral esketamine may work similarly across the TRD population, regardless of treatment-resistance levels.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
June 2, 2026
Daniel J. Kruger, Audrey Czerew, Leigh Farquhar et al.
The research priorities of people who have used psychedelics differ from those of institutional researchers. An online survey of 1192 U.S. adults who reported past psychedelic use identified seven major domains for future research: therapeutic efficacy, best practices for non-clinical use, safety and adverse experiences, broader understanding including indigenous traditions, non-medical outcomes like creativity and spiritual awakening, best practices for therapy, and best practices for research. Institutional researchers emphasized molecular, neurological, and clinical topics, while users prioritized non-clinical use and societal and cultural issues.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
June 1, 2026
Ludovic Samalin, Maud Rothärmel, Lila Mekaoui et al.
In patients with treatment-resistant depression, depressive symptoms improved rapidly during the first four weeks of intranasal esketamine treatment. Among 128 patients in a French real-world study, the average depression rating score fell by 7.5 points after one week and by 13.5 points after four weeks. The proportion of patients whose score dropped by at least half rose from 19.4% at week 1 to 47.4% at week 4. Experiencing dissociation during the first week was linked to a threefold higher chance of response at week 1, but no other factors predicted response. The findings suggest early dissociation may play a role in treatment response, but more research is needed on prognostic factors.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
January 29, 2026
Dandan Luo, Wenjun Dang, Jie Luo et al.
A systematic review of 13 clinical studies suggests that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) may help improve anxiety and depression in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and may relieve psychological stress and improve emotional states in their caregivers. Among adults with ASD (8 studies), MBSR showed potential for reducing emotional symptoms. For ASD caregivers (4 studies), preliminary effects included reduced stress and better emotional well-being. Only one study examined children with ASD, and none covered adolescents. The evidence is limited by small sample sizes and high heterogeneity, so conclusions should be interpreted cautiously.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
November 1, 2025
Felipe Herrmann, Grant Jones, Daniel M Low et al.
Increases in meaning in life, agreeableness, mindfulness, and extraversion are the psychological changes most strongly linked to future improvements in well-being after naturalistic psychedelic use. Increases in mindfulness, emotional stability, and extraversion are most associated with later reductions in anxiety, while increased self-esteem is most tied to decreased depression. Mindfulness was the only variable ranking among the top three predictors for all three outcomes—well-being, anxiety, and depression. These differing psychological changes may explain the mental health benefits observed after psychedelic use.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
July 1, 2025
Joris Kamp, Megan E Sikkink, Mahalah R Buell et al.
In mice with reduced Sp4 expression, a gene linked to schizophrenia in humans, restoring Sp4 in young adults partially corrected two schizophrenia-related behavioral deficits—prepulse inhibition and hypersensitivity to ketamine—but did not improve context memory. The SP4 gene is strongly associated with schizophrenia risk; human studies show that loss of one copy increases odds of schizophrenia by about 9-fold. These results suggest that Sp4 restoration in adulthood may reverse some but not all behavioral abnormalities, supporting further investigation of SP4 as a potential drug target.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
June 1, 2026
Amanda W Baker, Samantha R Philip, Caroline H Armstrong et al.
An 8-week course of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and the medication escitalopram both improved self-compassion in 198 adults with anxiety disorders, but MBSR was not generally superior to escitalopram. Two subscales showed differences: MBSR improved Common Humanity over time while escitalopram did not, and MBSR produced greater improvement in Mindfulness from baseline to post-treatment. All domains of self-compassion improved across both groups. The findings suggest that MBSR may offer specific benefits for enhancing mindfulness and common humanity, supporting its use when improving self-relational capacities is a treatment priority.