This study examined the psychological impact of racial microaggressions among racially minoritized young adults. Specifically, the study tested the direct and indirect effects of racial microaggressions on purpose of life through depressive symptoms, while also considering the buffering effects of mindfulness practices on the relationships between these variables. Using a cross-sectional...
This narrative review examines barriers to Danish patients' timely access to new treatments for treatment-resistant depression, focusing on controversies around esketamine. Delays arise from regulatory complexity, economic constraints and scientific debate over novel psychotropics. The review advocates evidence-based, faster implementation pathways for new treatments to alleviate the overall...
Abstract Background Group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is recommended for the treatment of subthreshold-to-mild depressive symptoms. Timely access to MBCT, however, is limited by accessibility issues. Self-help MBCT can overcome these issues, but is associated with poorer engagement. Incorporating virtual reality into self-help MBCT (VR-MBCT) may improve engagement, but relatively...
Background: Perinatal depression is a highly common clinical complication. While expert panels advocate for non-pharmacological treatments, the relative benefits of mindfulness-based interventions delivered face-to-face versus through emerging digital platforms have not been examined within a single integrated synthesis that distinguishes the contribution of delivery mode from that of trial era...
Depression remains a significant public health concern worldwide and many individuals do not achieve adequate symptom relief from conventional treatments such as antidepressants and psychological therapies. Interest has therefore increased in alternative interventions, including psilocybin microdosing. This article aimed to critically review the current evidence regarding the use of psilocybin...
Abstract Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is commonly operationalized as non-remission after at least two adequately delivered antidepressant trials, but the biological heterogeneity of this population remains substantial. This article presents a translational hypothesis and drug-development framework; it reports no original clinical or laboratory data and is not a systematic review. The...
Abstract Objectives Physical activity and meditation may each relate to mental health, but their joint associations in U.S. adults are unclear. We examined the separate and joint associations of any past-year meditation and meeting physical activity (PA) guidelines with depression and anxiety symptoms. Method We analyzed data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey Sample Adult file ( n...
Objectives: To examine whether a brief mindfulness training program was associated with changes in depressive symptoms among female patients with cancer, to explore potential psychological processes related to symptom change, and to examine differences in pre-to post-training changes according to baseline psychological risk profiles. Methods: This exploratory non-randomized controlled study...
Ketamine may have antidepressant and anti-suicidal effects. However, the mechanism underlying ketamine-mediated improvement in cognitive impairment in patients with depression remains unclear. To improve patient cognition in depression using molecular docking and network pharmacology, we examined ketamine's key targets and identified its molecular mechanisms. To gain target information about...
Understanding the physiological changes induced by ketamine in mood disorders, while reducing its side effects, is likely to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the physiology underlying mood disorders, as well as to the development of faster-acting and more efficacious antidepressant treatments. An extensive review of the literature on ketamine and the pathophysiology of...
Nightmares are overrepresented in psychiatric disorders and are strongly associated with suicidality, especially in Major Depressive Episode (MDE). This study had two main objectives: (1) to determine an optimal diagnostic cutoff for the Nightmare Severity Index (NSI) to identify Nightmare Disorder (ND), and (2) to compare the clinical profiles of MDE patients with ND (MDE-ND) and without ND...
Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is highly prevalent and associated with significant disability and mortality. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD), defined as inadequate response to ⩾2 antidepressant lines, remains a major therapeutic challenge. Esketamine nasal spray, approved in 2019 for TRD, demonstrated efficacy and safety in randomized trials, but real-world evidence remains...
The use of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is moving towards clinical use, and two unresolved questions will shape what comes next: how large and durable the benefit is, and what produces it? The strongest peer-reviewed efficacy signal is a phase 2b trial, in which one dose of synthetic psilocybin with psychological support approximately doubled the depression-score...
This study investigates the adjunctive effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) combined with escitalopram hydrobromide on cognitive function and emotional well-being in older adults with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). We hypothesized that this combined approach would lead to greater enhancements in cognitive abilities and overall well-being compared to escitalopram...
Depression is a complex mental disorder threatening global public health. Its pathophysiological mechanisms involve multidimensional dysfunctions including the emotional-cognitive circuit, Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, neurotransmitter systems and neuroplasticity. Current studies mostly analyze each system in isolation, lacking a unified integrated framework. This review proposes...
This study evaluated the long-term comparative effectiveness and safety of esketamine versus injectable ketamine and esketamine versus oral antidepressants for major depressive disorder (MDD). This emulated target trial utilized observational data from a cohort of U.S. adults with MDD between 2018 and 2024. Patients were categorized into those receiving esketamine, injectable R,S-ketamine, and...
Ketamine and esketamine have been increasingly used as adjunctive treatments for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), yet evidence on pharmacological interactions with commonly prescribed psychotropic medications remains limited. This study evaluated the association between concomitant lamotrigine, lithium, and benzodiazepine use and antidepressant outcomes during subcutaneous esketamine...
Patients with serious illnesses and short prognoses often experience depression and suicidal ideation. Traditional antidepressants are limited by delayed onset, creating a need for rapidly acting therapies. In this Palliative Care Rounds, we examine the evidence for ketamine/esketamine's efficacy as antidepressants, including evidence specific to people with serious illnesses. In psychiatric...
Intravenous ketamine has emerged as a rapid-acting antidepressant intervention that has shown promising effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression, although evidence remains heterogeneous and less well established across diagnostic subtypes. Nevertheless, real-world data comparing diagnostic subtypes and sex-related differences remain limited. This observational study examined the...
Ketamine may alleviate treatment-resistant depression (TRD) primarily through glutamatergic modulation, with downstream dopaminergic activation. Iron plays an important role in monoaminergic metabolism, that is also implicated in the pathophysiology of TRD. Both Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) and Effective Transverse Relaxation Rate (R2*) mapping can determine the extent of iron...