Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & ResearchFull AccessPsychedelics for Psychiatric Disorders: More Research NeededNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:13 Apr 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.4a14AbstractAPA’s Work Group on Biomarkers and Novel Treatments suggests that psychedelic drug trials need more standard...
Background: Recent and preprohibition studies show that patients with serious illness might benefit from psychedelic-assisted therapies for a range of symptoms, physical, psychosocial, and existential. Objective: To explore the potential roles and research priorities of these therapies in patients with serious illness. Design, Setting, and Participants: Qualitative study based on semistructured...
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...
Abstract Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychedelic medicine with anti-addictive properties. While research on ibogaine is limited, several observational studies have shown ibogaine can mitigate opioid withdrawal, as seen with reductions in clinical and subjective opioid withdrawal scores and reduced drug use severity (Noller, Frampton, & Yazar-Klosinski, 2018; Brown & Alper 2018)....
The authors review the history of and recent research on the psychotherapeutic efficacy of psychedelic drugs. Psychedelic drugs appear to provide access to unconscious material and, when used in a therapeutic context, may cause deep and longstanding psychological change. The psychological effects of psychedelic drugs are reviewed from the perspective of Jungian theory. A series of clinical...
A single dose of the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonist psilocybin can have long-lasting beneficial effects on mood, personality, and potentially on mindfulness, but underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here, we for the first time conduct a study that assesses psilocybin effects on cerebral 5-HT2AR binding with [11C]Cimbi-36 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and on personality and...
Recent years have seen a renaissance of research into the use of psychedelic compounds to address various psychiatric conditions. The study of these substances went dormant in 1970 when the United States government passed the Controlled Substances Act, which categorized lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD or acid, as a Schedule I drug. The rise of psychedelics in research settings...
Abstract Alternative therapies are sometimes associated with non-biological approaches, or practices that do not undergo rigorous testing or produce consistently repeatable results. In the 1970s, some alternative therapies also openly embraced spiritual dimensions that directly conflicted with a Western bio-medical paradigm, placing them within a category of new age medicine, suggesting that...
Background Psychedelic-assisted therapy research is demonstrating unprecedented rates of success in treating mental illness, addictions, and end-of-life distress. This psychedelic renaissance is a turning point in how complex human conditions can be treated and has implications for nursing knowledge, advocacy, and practice internationally. Objective This article aims to explore the current...
Though there was initial interest in the use of psychedelic drugs for psychiatric treatment, bad outcomes and subsequent passage of the Substance Act of 1970, which placed psychedelic drugs in the Schedule I category, significantly limited potential progress. More recently, however, there has been renewal in interest and promise of psychedelic research. The purpose of this review is to...