August 5, 2020
Sofia Beck
1 citation
Depression and anxiety are debilitating mental health conditions that affect a large portion of the United States. Current pharmacological treatments for these disorders require daily administration, are associated with a number of side effects, and can be ineffective for some. Emerging evidence in novel treatment options may necessitate a shift toward how we treat these psychiatric disorders.
Open Repository of the University of Porto (University of Porto)
June 5, 2020
Rui Pedro Leal Andrade
Background: Psilocybin is a naturally occurring serotonin receptor agonist that can be, more commonly, found in the Psilocybe mushrooms. Consumed by indigenous cultures for millenia, Psilocybin, in the 1960s, was marketed in many countries under the trade name Indocybin, and, before its eventual ban, was safely used as an adjunct to psychotherapy in the treatment of depression and anxiety....
Frontiers in Psychiatry
March 31, 2020
Kristin Heuschkel, Kim P. C. Kuypers
82 citations
Depression is a major public health problem that affects approximately 4.4% of the global population. Since conventional pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies are only partially effective, as demonstrated by the number of patients failing to achieve remission, alternative treatments are needed. Mindfulness meditation (MM) and psilocybin represent two promising novel treatments that might even...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
March 5, 2020
Meghan Hibicke, Alexus N. Landry, Hannah M. Kramer et al.
211 citations
Psilocybin shows efficacy to alleviate depression in human clinical trials for six or more months after only one or two treatments. Another hallucinogenic drug, esketamine, has recently been U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved as a rapid-acting antidepressant. The mechanistic basis for the antidepressant effects of psilocybin and ketamine appear to be conserved. The efficacy of...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
January 16, 2020
Lea J. Mertens, Matthew B. Wall, Leor Roseman et al.
211 citations
Background: Psilocybin has shown promise as a treatment for depression but its therapeutic mechanisms are not properly understood. In contrast to the presumed actions of antidepressants, we recently found increased amygdala responsiveness to fearful faces one day after open-label treatment with psilocybin (25 mg) in 19 patients with treatment-resistant depression, which correlated with...
Psychiatry Research
January 2, 2020
Simon B. Goldberg, Brian T. Pace, Christopher R. Nicholas et al.
234 citations
The current meta-analysis examined the effects of psilocybin in combination with behavioral interventions on anxiety and depression in samples with elevated symptoms. Across four studies (one uncontrolled; three randomized, placebo-controlled; N = 117), within-group pre-post and pre-follow-up effects on anxiety and depression were large (Hedges' gs=1.16 to 1.47) and statistically significant....
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science
2020
Jordan Sloshower, Jeffrey Guss, Robert Krause et al.
168 citations
Abstract Psychedelic-assisted therapy is based on the premise that psychedelic substances can act as catalysts or adjuncts to psychotherapeutic processes. Recent clinical trials involving psychedelic-assisted therapy have generally employed a similar three-part structure consisting of preparation, support during the dosing sessions, and subsequent “integration.” However, the content of these...
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
November 22, 2019
Sally Meikle, Paul Liknaitzky, Susan L. Rossell et al.
19 citations
In the quest for new treatment options for depression, attention is being paid to the potential role of psychedelic drugs. Psilocybin is of particular interest given its mechanism of action, its benefits in early trials and its relatively low side effects burden. This viewpoint outlines a number of key issues that remain to be elucidated about its potential use in the clinical environment,...
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine
September 23, 2019
John R. Kelly, Annie Baker, Mona Babiker et al.
22 citations
The psychedelic research renaissance is gaining traction. Preliminary clinical studies of the hallucinogenic fungi, psilocybin, with psychological support, have indicated improvements in mood, anxiety and quality of life. A seminal, open-label study demonstrated marked reductions in depression symptoms in participants with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The associated neurobiological...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 1, 2019
Kelley C. O’donnell, Sarah E. Mennenga, Michael P. Bogenschutz
15 citations
Background and aims Given the enormous global burden of depressive illness, there is an urgent need to develop novel and more effective treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD). Recent findings have suggested that psychedelic drugs may have a role in the treatment of depressive symptoms, and a number of groups are in the process of developing protocols to study this question...