Ketamine, originally developed as an anesthetic, is gaining increasing attention due to its multifaceted pharmacological properties. In addition to its use in anesthesia, ketamine exerts potent analgesic effects via N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonism, modulating pain perception and reducing central sensitization, particularly in chronic and neuropathic pain conditions. Emerging...
Background and Objectives: Adolescence is a critical yet vulnerable developmental stage, characterized by increased exposure to stressful life events (SLEs), which are strongly linked to the onset and progression of depression. Although mindfulness has been consistently associated with lower depressive symptoms, the mechanisms underlying this relationship-particularly in adolescents-remain...
Psychiatric ServicesJune 25, 2025Michael Liu, Rachel Branning, Austin Lee et al.2 citations
This study sought to investigate racial-ethnic disparities in the utilization of intravenous ketamine and intranasal esketamine therapy for major depressive disorder. The TriNetX platform was used to identify 861,179 patients diagnosed as having moderate-to-severe recurrent major depressive disorder between January 2019 and October 2024. Patients were divided into non-Hispanic White,...
CureusJune 24, 2025Alfred Mathew, Roshan Dongre, Seo Hee Kim et al.
The coronavirus variant (causing the COVID-19 disease) that led to a pandemic sent global shockwaves, resulting in long-term effects on physical, mental, and social well-being and impacting both individuals and communities. With the pandemic's notable impact on mental health, one such potential treatment discussed in recent literature is psilocybin. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring prodrug...
Supportive Care in CancerJune 24, 2025Ana Ferrigno Guajardo, Misael Salazar-Alejo, Fernanda Mesa-Chavez et al.3 citations
This study evaluated the efficacy of an online mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention in reducing anxiety among breast cancer (BC) survivors, leveraging the potential advantages of digital delivery to enhance psychosocial care for this population. In this randomized controlled trial, 68 BC survivors with elevated anxiety levels were assigned to either an 8-week online MBSR...
Drugs AgingJune 24, 2025Lou Vinarcsik, Charles Smoller, George Grossberg1 citation
The use of drugs with psychedelic and dissociative effects for the treatment of psychiatric illnesses has become increasingly popular in recent years. However, few trials have been conducted to determine the efficacy of these agents in the specific setting of treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD) in older adults. In this paper, we review notable aspects of treatment-resistant MDD...
Patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) have more dysfunctional attitudes than healthy individuals and these pessimistic biases are correlated with depression severity. Psilocybin has demonstrated sustained remission in depression. Secondary analysis of a two-arm randomized controlled trial assessing the effect of psilocybin therapy versus escitalopram on 'maladaptive' cognitive biases...
Ketamine induces antidepressant action via upregulation of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression and TrkB receptor signaling. Rett syndrome (RTT), a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2), is associated with decreased BDNF expression. Although treatment with ketamine or LM22A-4, a TrkB receptor agonist, improves...
Mental health implications of COVID-19 drug use patterns are still unclear. We used data-driven clustering in a large citizen science cohort recruited agnostically to an interest in drug-use to categorise people according to common patterns of drug use and analysed their mental health symptoms (GAD-7 and PHQ-9 items), from recruitment prior to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 (N = 242,260) to...
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and intravenous (IV) ketamine are treatments used for severe depression and/or treatment-resistant depression (TRD). ECT is considered one of the most effective treatments for severe depression, although there is debate within the field regarding the effectiveness between ECT and IV ketamine in comparable TRD patient groups. This retrospective chart review of...
This study investigated subjective psychedelic experiences in the global LGBTQIA+ population. Using validated measures of acute psychedelic effects, psychological flexibility, gender and sexual identity attitudes, adverse experiences, and mental health, we examined self-reported changes in identity and mental health outcomes following psychedelic use. A total of 346 individuals completed the...
The serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) modulates various neurotransmitter systems and is implicated in psychiatric disorders, including depression and schizophrenia. Despite progress, the detailed mechanisms of signaling at the 5-HT2AR and its therapeutic implications remain unclear, warranting further exploration. Overcoming the limitations of conventional pharmacology, photopharmacology...
Background Ketamine exerts potent but transient antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Combinations of ketamine and psychotherapy have attracted interest, but no trial has investigated a psychedelic model of ketamine–psychotherapy for TRD to our knowledge. Aims This secondary analysis of a randomised clinical trial (RCT) explores the therapeutic effects and experiential...
Schizophrenia BulletinJune 17, 2025Daphne J Holt, Rachel Sussman, Daniel Johnson et al.1 citation
Stress sensitivity may represent an important target for resilience-promoting, preventive interventions. Resilience Training (RT) is a 4-session, group-based behavioral intervention, focusing on mindfulness-based skills, that leads to reductions in psychopathology. To investigate the mechanisms of RT, the current study tested whether acquiring the skills taught in RT leads to decreases in...
Background: Ketamine use for chronic pain and depression has increased worldwide, but sex differences in its efficacy and safety have been little studied; this study examines existing evidence to address this gap. Methods: A prospective, multicenter, one-year observational study in 585 chronic pain patients was performed; 256 patients had one administration of ketamine and 329 had two or more....
Mindfulness-based therapies (MBT) are proposed as a "third wave" of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This network meta-analysis investigated this hypothesis by comparing the effectiveness of MBT and CBT for treating depression, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). An indirect comparison was made. Relevant databases were searched for studies comparing either CBT or MBT with...
Abstract Background Patients with cancer often struggle with depression, which can negatively impact quality of life as well as be challenging to manage. Methods A phase 2 trial was conducted that demonstrated safety, feasibility, and efficacy of a single dose of psilocybin combined with psychological support in a community cancer setting in 30 patients with cancer and a major depressive...
Currently, the most actively investigated rapidly acting antidepressants, anxiolytics and/or anti PTSD agents, include psychedelics e.g. psilocybin, LSD, N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine, ayahuasca; non‐hallucinogenic entactogens, e.g. MDMA; psychoplastogens which rapidly promote neuroplasticity, e.g. ibogaine, ketamine and esketamine; and other atypicals e.g. dextromorphan/bupropion, esmethadone....
Biological PsychiatryJune 13, 2025Shaoqiang Han, Ya Tian, Huiting Yang et al.1 citation
Although numerous studies have attempted to identify the functional pathways underlying the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine, their findings remain inconsistent, limiting our understanding of the neural mechanisms involved. This study aims to delineate a specific brain circuit by integrating diverse functional findings related to ketamine's efficacy in depression. We conducted a...
This study aimed to address the dearth of literature on mechanisms of effect of mindfulness-based interventions by investigating metacognitive beliefs as a potential mechanism of symptomology-reduction effects. The Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS) component of the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model was augmented to include subtypes of mind wandering and rumination. One hundred...