Background: Psychedelic drugs have recently emerged as plausibly effective pharmacological agents for the management of depression, anxiety, and other neuropsychiatric conditions, including conditions that have not benefited from prior interventions. The latter half of the twentieth century marked a revolution in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and psychosis, exemplified by the...
Sexual medicine reviewsDecember 23, 2023Ava Wexler, Alexandra Dubinskaya, Julie Suyama et al.7 citations
Sexual health, an integral component of overall well-being, is frequently compromised by common yet underdiagnosed sexual dysfunctions. Traditional interventions encompass pharmaceutical and psychological treatments. Unconventional therapies, like MDMA, offer hope for sexual dysfunction. This review delves into MDMA's effects on sexual responsiveness and its potential role in treating sexual...
AbstractAssociated with high-risk behavior, borderline personality disorder (BPD) remains one of the field's most misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and stigmatized conditions. Individuals with BPD are frequently labeled as treatment-resistant patients. Furthermore, 25–58% of BPD individuals have a comorbid diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and BPD may be conceptualized as a...
Introduction: With the progressive advancement of clinical and experimental trials aimed at investigating the pharmacotherapeutic potential of psychedelic substances, there is also the development of other conceptions of use, not only for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, but also for the improvement of emotional/cognitive functions. Objective: The present study is a systematic review of...
In light of high-profile cases of sexual assault and other unethical conduct by therapists, recent clinical research involving psychedelic drugs has generally mandated the video recording of therapy sessions. In this paper, I address a gap in the literature by investigating ethical issues related to video recording in the unique context of psychedelic therapy sessions. I begin by summarizing...
Objective To compare group and individual psychedelic-assisted therapy in terms of clinician time, costs and patient access. Methods Using 2023 data from two group therapy trial sites, one using 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and one using psilocybin to treat major depressive disorder (MDD), we compared overall variable costs, clinician...
The field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and state-run psychedelic services will need to adequately train and certify facilitators to meet the anticipated demand for access. This article explores the role of peer support in the setting of medical and non-medical supervised psychedelic administration. Existing peer-support frameworks from both the psychedelic and the Veteran communities...
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is the most widely used illicit substance worldwide. Nevertheless, recent observational studies demonstrated that lifetime MDMA use among U.S. adults was associated with a lower risk of depression and suicide thoughts. We recently reported that the gut-brain axis may contribute to MDMA-induced stress resilience in mice. To further explore this, we...
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) frequently co-occur in patients who have experienced trauma. This comorbidity leads to a vicious cycle where PTSD symptoms beget heavy drinking and vice versa. There are no FDA-approved medications to treat PTSD-AUD; therefore, individuals suffering from this comorbidity are treated with medication approved to treat the...
There is renewed interest in the use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in psychiatric research and practice. Although acute subjective effects of LSD are mostly positive, negative subjective effects, including anxiety, may occur. The induction of overall positive acute subjective effects is desired in psychedelic-assisted therapy because positive acute experiences are associated with greater...
MDMA therapy for PTSD. Those suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have a new treatment option—psychedelic therapy. In a confirmatory randomized controlled trial with 104 participants, researchers found that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy reduced symptoms and functional impairment in people with moderate to severe PTSD. Their findings add to a...
MDMA (3, 4 Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a psychoactive drug under the amphetamine-type stimulant group. While the modulatory effects of MDMA on serotonin neurotransmission and its neurotoxicity in the central nervous system are well studied, MDMA’s effects on modulating microglial neuroimmune functions have attracted considerable attention. Resident glial cells, including microglia in the...
ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ARTICLES ASAPPREVViewpointNEXTExpectancy Effects Cannot Be Neglected in MDMA-Assisted Therapy ResearchL. Jacob FlamelingL. Jacob FlamelingInstitute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden 2333 AK, The NetherlandsMore by L. Jacob Flamelinghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1425-1180, Jacob S. AdayJacob S. AdayDepartment of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,...
This review delves into the therapeutic applications of amphetamine-type stimulants such as lisdexamphetamine dimesylate, mixed amphetamine salts, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), dextroamphetamine, and phentermine. These compounds have been investigated for their potential in treating a range of psychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), drug...
Mental illnesses pose social, economic, and health burdens worldwide. The increasing health burden and mental diseases pose the need for investigating other potential medications. The present review focuses on psychedelic medications. The Patient/Participant, Intervention, Outcomes, and Studies ([PICOS) protocol and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) checklist guided...
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental health disorder that causes significant dysfunction in individuals. Currently, there are many approved pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy treatment options for PTSD, but unfortunately, half of the patients do not respond to traditional therapies. In this article, we review clinical trials and research on...
Clinicians should be regularly informed about the range of NPS and their medical, psychobiological and psychopathological risks both in the acute and long term. Future research should focus on an integrative model in which pro-drug websites' analyses are combined with advanced research approaches, including computational chemistry studies so that in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies of...
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is increasingly used to non-invasively study the acute impact of psychedelics on the human brain. While fMRI is a promising tool for measuring brain function in response to psychedelics, it also has known methodological challenges. We conducted a systematic review of fMRI studies examining acute responses to experimentally administered psychedelics...
There is increased risk of psychosis associated with cannabis use disorder and the interaction of THC with dopamine neurotransmission is complex. It is important to investigate the recovery from cannabis-induced psychosis and its effects on the brain’s dopamine neurotransmission. This study was to evaluate dopamine receptor D 2 availability in the striatum (caudate/putamen) in recently...
ABSTRACT Demand for more efficacious antidepressants, particularly those with a rapid onset of action, has resulted in a reevaluation of psychedelic drugs for their therapeutic potential. Several tryptamines found in psilocybin-containing ‘magic’ mushrooms share chemical similarities with psilocybin, and early work suggests they may also share receptor targets. However, few studies have...