Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with sleep disturbances including insomnia and nightmares. This study compared cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) with CBT-I combined with imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) for nightmares to evaluate if the combined treatment led to greater reductions in trauma-related sleep disturbances in Australian veterans. Veterans with...
Objective: To determine the effects of the non-classic psychedelic, ibogaine, on cognitive functioning. Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid derived from the Tabernanthe Iboga plant family, indigenous to Africa, and traditionally used in spiritual and healing ceremonies. Ibogaine has primarily been studied with respect to its clinical efficacy in reducing substance addiction. There are, however,...
Serotonergic hallucinogens also referred to as psychedelics, are psychoactive substances that profoundly alter perception, mood, and cognitive processes. These substances, historically intertwined with religious and cultural rituals, offer profound effects that extend beyond mere hallucinations to profoundly altered states of consciousness. Notable compounds like Lysergic acid diethylamide...
Abstract Psychedelics are compounds acting by serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) 2A receptor activation and induce several behavioral responses. They are of special interest because of their positive effects on neuropsychiatric disorders (depression and posttraumatic stress disorder). However, several findings revealed that some psychedelic actions are similar to symptoms observed in...
When we weren't looking, the annual “Innovations” issue crept up on us. And coincidentally, so did advances in the use of psychedelics to treat substance use disorders (SUDs). ADAW reviewed its own archives, as well as the medical literature, attended a conference and found that indeed, psychedelics can be used not only to treat post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but to treat SUDS, in...
The range of outcomes and published record on the Transcendental Meditation technique across 50 years of research in education, business, and government makes its application unique. Its association with health and relation to an individual’s quality-of-life have also made the technique useful in some developing countries. Data related to application of the technique to higher education in...
The small, globular cactus peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is known for its ability to produce mescaline, a phenethylamine protoalkaloid (Figure 1). Consuming the mescaline-containing dried tops or “buttons” of peyote has a psychedelic effect that has been used in religious ceremonies by Indigenous communities for over 5800 years (Cassels & Sáez-Briones, 2018). Nowadays, psychedelic drugs are...
There has recently been a resurgence of interest in psychedelic compounds based on studies demonstrating their potential therapeutic applications in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse disorders, and treatment-resistant depression. Despite promising efficacy observed in some clinical trials, the full range of biological effects and mechanism(s) of action of these compounds...
There is an unmet need for effective short-term therapeutic techniques to reduce clinical symptoms associated with prospective-, as well as retrospective aversive mental images across mental disorders. We investigated the efficacy of imagery rescripting (IR) as a short-term intervention across clinical disorders, as the literature suggests that this technique could be a promising intervention...
Nurses in surgical-trauma units are susceptible to compassion fatigue due to work-related stressors. Mitigating and preventing compassion fatigue are critical to supporting the health and well-being of surgical-trauma nurses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a surgical-trauma unit was converted to a designated COVID-19 unit. Nurses verbalized feelings of burnout and stress during the pandemic and...