Decreased neurotrophic factors expression and neurotrophin receptors signalling have repeatedly been reported in association with stress, depression, and neurodegenerative disorders. We have previously identified the hallucinogen 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine hydrochloride (DOI) as protective against trophic deprivation-induced cytotoxicity in human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells and established...
A number of behavioral, social, biological, and cultural factors are associated with suicide. However, the ability to predict an imminent suicide attempt remains problematic. Prior studies indicate that the manifest dream content of depressed, non-suicidal patients differs from that of depressed, suicidal patients. The dream imagery of depressed, suicidal patients contains themes of death,...
This randomized controlled investigation examined the effectiveness of a self-help bibliotherapy format of the evidence-based mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention. College students seeking stress reduction were randomly assigned to a 10-week MBSR bibliotherapy intervention group (n = 47) or a no-treatment control group (n = 45). Self-report measures were collected at baseline...
Psychotherapeutic interventions have been adopted effectively in the management of tinnitus for a long time. This study compared mindfulness meditation and relaxation therapy for management of tinnitus. In this randomised controlled trial, patients were recruited for five sessions of mindfulness meditation or five sessions of relaxation therapy. Patients' responses were evaluated using the...
To determine if mindfulness meditation (MM) in older adults improves cognition and, secondarily, if MM improves mental health and physiology, 134 at least mildly stressed 50-85 year olds were randomized to a six-week MM intervention or a waitlist control. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and two months later at Visit 2. The primary outcome measure was an executive function/attentional...
The molecular mechanisms underlying major depressive disorder remain poorly understood, and current antidepressant treatments have many shortcomings. The recent discovery that a single intravenous infusion of ketamine at a subanesthetic dose had robust, rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in individuals with treatment-resistant depression inspired tremendous interest in investigating the...
Based on the discovery of the robust antidepressant effects of ketamine in patients with depression, including those with treatment-resistant depression, agents acting on the glutamatergic system have drawn much attention as potential novel antidepressants. Among the agents acting on the glutamatergic system, preclinical data have indicated that the group II metabotropic glutamate (mGlu)...
Patients with progressive kidney disease experience increasing physiologic and psychosocial stressors and declining health-related quality of life (HRQOL). We conducted a randomized, active-controlled, open-label trial to test whether a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program delivered in a novel workshop-teleconference format would reduce symptoms and improve HRQOL in patients...
3-methoxyphencyclidine (3-MeO-PCP) appeared on the illicit drug market in 2011 and is an analogue of phencyclidine, which exhibits anesthetic, analgesic and hallucinogenic properties. In this paper, we report data from a non-fatal intoxication and seven deaths involving 3-MeO-PCP in Sweden during the period March 2014 until June 2016. The non-fatal intoxication case, a 19-year-old male with...
Beneficial effects of cannabidiol (CBD) have been described for a wide range of psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, psychosis, and depression. The mechanisms responsible for these effects, however, are still poorly understood. Similar to clinical antidepressant or atypical antipsychotic drugs, recent findings clearly indicate that CBD, either acutely or repeatedly administered, induces...