Abstract Despite the popular support for psychedelics as aids for depression, academics and the public frequently overestimate the efficacy of available medications and psychotherapies. Metaanalyses reveal that antidepressant medications alone help only one in four patients and rarely surpass credible placebos. Their effects, though statistically significant, might not impress depressed...
Abstract Background PTSD is a chronic condition with high rates of comorbidity, but current treatment options are limited and not always effective. One novel approach is MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for people diagnosed with treatment-resistant PTSD, where MDMA is used as a catalyst to facilitate trauma processing during psychotherapy. The aim was to review all current research into...
Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic plant preparation, traditionally consumed in sacred ceremonies by indigenous North-Westerner Amazonian countries like Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador. It is fundamental to carefully balance benefits/risks related to the ayahuasca intake, both during ceremonies and experimental settings. The aim is at evaluating and comparing the potential therapeutic benefits...
After a legally mandated, decades-long global arrest of research on psychedelic drugs, investigation of psychedelics in the context of psychiatric disorders is yielding exciting results. Outcomes of neuroscience and clinical research into 5-Hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) receptor agonists, such as psilocybin, show promise for addressing a range of serious disorders, including depression and...
Objectives Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe psychiatric disorder, with disabling potential and chronic evolution, that occurs at some people due to exposure to a specific traumatic event or threats of death, serious injury or sexual violence. Currently, psychotherapy is accepted as one of the most effective methods of treating PTSD. Incomplete clinical response as well as...
The efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental disorders has been attributed to the lasting change from experiential avoidance to acceptance that these treatments appear to facilitate. This article presents a conceptual model that specifies potential psychological mechanisms underlying such change, and that shows substantial parallels between psychedelic therapy and cognitive...
Abstract 3,4‐Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)–assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been shown to significantly reduce clinical symptomatology, but posttraumatic growth (PTG), which consists of positive changes in self‐perception, interpersonal relationships, or philosophy of life, has not been studied with this treatment. Participant data ( n = 60) were pooled...
IntroductionThe majority of contemporary psychedelic research has focused on ayahuasca, lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin, though there are hundreds of novel psychedelic compounds that may have clinical utility. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of classic and novel phenethylamine, tryptamine, and lysergamide psychedelics via a large, nationally...
Psychedelic‐assisted psychotherapy is seeing a resurgence as a treatment approach for mental health disorders. It melds pharmacology and psychotherapy, using substances such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin, under medical supervision, to treat conditions such as post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and extreme depression.
Psychedelics are back in vogue. In popular culture, political legislation, and scientific research, we appear to be witnessing an early twenty-first century renaissance of the heady acid days of the 1960s. The success of Michael Pollan’s 2018 New York Times bestseller, How to Change Your Mind, the decriminalization of psilocybin-containing mushrooms in Denver in 2019, followed by all plant...
Background: A recently published randomized controlled trial compared single-dose psilocybin with single-dose niacin in conjunction with psychotherapy in participants with cancer-related psychiatric distress. Results suggested that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy facilitated improvements in psychiatric and existential distress, quality of life, and spiritual well-being up to seven weeks prior...
BACKGROUND Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychiatric condition that can develop following a traumatic experience. PTSD is associated with significant disability, a large economic burden, and despite the range of therapies to treat PTSD, response to antidepressants is limited. A growing body of clinical research suggests the efficacy of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine...
Abstract Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music emerged following discontinuation of psychedelic therapy research in the early 1970s, but psychedelic therapy research has since revived. Music remains a vital component. This study examined participants’ experiences of music in psychedelic therapy research. A rapid review of qualitative and quantitative journal articles in four major databases...
Prior research has shown that acute subjective psychedelic effects are associated with both spontaneous and intended changes in depression and anxiety. Psychedelics are also theorized to produce increases in psychological flexibility, which could explain decreases in depression and anxiety following a psychedelic experience. Therefore, the present cross-sectional survey study sought to examine...