Background: Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, is widely used in experimental schizophrenia models due to its ability to mimic psychotic symptoms through N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonism. Despite its utility, concerns remain regarding its potential systemic toxicity, particularly in the liver and kidneys. Method: This study investigated the dose- and time-dependent hepatotoxic...
Naturally derived psilocybin is widely used, yet its therapeutic potential, pharmacological distinctiveness and regulatory feasibility remain understudied. This review evaluates the potential of naturally derived psilocybin using a six-criterion framework to evaluate: (1) therapeutic benefit, (2) safety and tolerability, (3) pharmacological uniqueness vs. synthetic psilocybin, (4) identity and...
Non-ordinary experiences such as hearing voices, losing control over one's body or mediumship/possession, are observed across cultures. However, there is a notable lack of instruments specifically designed to measure these experiences from a subject-centered, culturally sensitive perspective, with existing measures offering limited coverage ofexperiences that may be particularly salient for...
There is growing interest in psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin, 3,4-metheylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) given emerging research on potential uses as treatments for a variety of health conditions. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted multiple “Breakthrough Therapy” designations to various...
Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains difficult to treat; a substantial proportion of patients do not respond to first-line trauma-focused psychotherapy or to sertraline and paroxetine. 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a synthetic substituted amphetamine classified as an entactogen, has been studied for more than two decades as a pharmacological adjunct to...
BJPsych OpenJuly 1, 2026Chloe Hambly Lapointe, Lilith Nosko, C. Crocker et al.
Background Recently, there has been a significant rise in potency (% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)) of cannabis products globally. As such, there is a need for a better understanding of the relationship between cannabis potency and mental health outcomes, especially in a developmentally vulnerable population such as adolescents and young adults. Aims The objective of this scoping review was to...
Background: Cannabis remains the most widely used illicit psychoactive substance in Europe, and Germany's landmark 2024 partial legalisation of recreational cannabis has made the clinical evidence base for cannabis-psychosis associations particularly relevant for German public health and forensic psychiatry policy. A growing body of evidence suggests that heavy cannabis use is associated with...
The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on resilience in adolescents undergoing methadone treatment. This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and control group design. The statistical population comprised adolescents receiving methadone treatment at addiction...
The growing perception that marijuana is safe during pregnancy has led to a marked increase in prenatal cannabis use, raising concerns about its long-term effects on brain development and cognition. This study investigated the consequences of prenatal delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) exposure on hippocampal circuit function, synaptic plasticity, and memory in adolescent offspring using a...
Recent increasing interest in hallucinogens has underscored the critical gaps in our understanding of their adverse health effects and healthcare usage over time. The current study aimed to examine changes in emergency department (ED) visit rates involving hallucinogens, clinical outcomes of visits and the characteristics of individuals with ED visits involving hallucinogens. Repeated...