Anorexia nervosa (AN) has one of the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses. No approved pharmacological treatments exist for AN, but novel neurobiological targets show promise. Studies show that in individuals with AN, there are alterations in brain neurotransmitter signaling, alongside associated mental rigidity and comorbid anxiety and depression. Available and new therapies could...
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder that can become chronic and debilitating when left untreated. The most commonly recommended first-line treatments for PTSD among adults are individual trauma-focused psychotherapies. Other evidence-based treatments include specific antidepressant medications and non-trauma-focused psychotherapies. Despite the...
Psychedelic substances use is increasing in the United States (US). The approval of new psychedelic drugs and legalization of natural psychedelic substances will likely further increase exposures and subsequent adverse events. The study objective is to describe the clinical effects, therapies, and medical outcomes of patients with psychedelic exposures reported to US poison centers. We...
Psychedelic drug therapy has gained prominence for its potential in treating various mental health conditions, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety. Psychedelic treatment differs from conventional psychiatric approaches in mode of action, legal status, and treatment approach. This work delves into the therapeutic potential, mechanisms, and regulatory...
Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the search for the use of psychedelics in improving physical and mental health. Anaesthesia has evolved since very early times, born from the need to eliminate pain and reduce suffering and there are reports of the use of anaesthetics to achieve mystical states since the nineteenth century. Nowadays, the renaissance of psychedelics in...
In this narrative review, we discuss evidence for psilocybin- and LSD-assisted treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). We describe limitations of psychedelic research and posit methodological considerations when designing a trial in patients with both disorders. In AUD, a growing evidence base for psilocybin treatment shows a promising beneficial and...
The revival of psilocybin in psychopharmacological research heralds a potential paradigm shift for treating mood and anxiety disorders, and other psychiatric conditions beyond the psychotic spectrum. This critical review evaluates current evidence on psilocybin's efficacy, juxtaposing potential benefits with the practical aspects of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) and the...
The unreliability of modern methods of treating existential distress in incurable patients draws the attention of a number of specialists to the possibility of using such an effective means of combating thanataphobia as gaining a symbolic experience of death – rebirth in palliative care, the simplest and most effective way of generating which is the use of entheogens. However, the topic of...
Psychedelics are emerging as an effective way to combat mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and substance abuse. Psychedelics such as psilocybin can decrease overactivity in regions of the brain that are associated with anxiety and depression; for instance, psilocybin acts as an agonist on brain receptors to induce consciousness-altering neural responses. Compared to...
Current evidence suggests that the efficacy of psychedelic therapy depends, in part, on the character of psychedelic experiences themselves. One pronounced aspect of psychedelic experiences is alterations to the experience of time, including reports of timelessness or transcending time. However, how we should interpret such reports remains unclear, and this lack of clarity has philosophical and...