Current neuroscience research calls into question the binary model of anesthesia as a state of consciousness shifted by unconsciousness, replacing it with an idea of consciousness as a continuum created by interactions between large-scale cortex and subcortical regions.Meanwhile, psychedelic drugs are making a comeback as potential treatments for treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic...
Treatment-resistant juvenile depression is a globally prevalent issue, with a need for better pharmacotherapy. Typically, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors are front line, but recently there is interest in examining using ketamine or esketamine adjunct in adolescents. In this study, a novel method is used to explore the adverse effects of sub-anesthetic doses of ketamine in a female...
Traditional monoaminergic medications often offer limited relief for the physical and cognitive symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD. Growing data now point to fast-acting, glutamate-based treatments that boost synaptic plasticity and interrupt fear-conditioned neural circuits. We report four sequential cases of hard-to-treat trauma-spectrum disorders-somatic PTSD,...
Under the influence of psychedelics, people often report encountering "entities" who seem to have their own autonomous agency. Depending on the cultural milieu, these entities are reported to take a variety of forms, including spirits, elves, ancestors, or fragments of the self. Encounters with such beings hold a central place in many traditions of psychedelic practice around the world. And...
Psychotic symptoms are uncommon and non-specific adverse effects of classic (serotonergic) psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and mescaline. They can emerge during the acute phase of psychedelic drug effects, persist into the subacute ("afterglow") period, or, in rare cases, develop into long-term psychotic illness. Across all three scenarios, the symptoms can be...
Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms are typically not consumed for their nutritional value. The main reason people ingest these mushrooms is for their psychoactive effects. Recently, there has been growing interest in the potential therapeutic applications of psilocybin-containing mushrooms in a range of psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder,...
Psychedelic and psychedelic-adjacent substances, including 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and classic serotonergic hallucinogens, are undergoing renewed therapeutic investigation and remain in non-medical use. Inadvertent exposure during early, unrecognized pregnancy is clinically plausible, yet pregnancy-specific safety evidence is limited. To map and synthesize the extent,...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) continues to pose a major therapeutic challenge due to its clinical heterogeneity. This chapter looks at the development of antidepressant treatments, starting with early interventions such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Although these treatments targeted the monoaminergic system,...
Major depressive disorder (MDD), including treatment-resistant depression (TRD), is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder. MDD is associated with severe suffering, burden and large economical costs. Although various conventional antidepressant treatments are available, a large portion of depressed people does not or not adequately respond to the first-line treatments (mostly SSRIs and SNRIs)...
Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) is a condition affecting 1-5% of psychedelic users, with higher prevalence observed among recurrentLSD consumers and synthetic cannabinoid users [1]. The disorder is characterised by persistent visual disturbances including palinopsia and visual snow, along with dissociative symptoms, which have been neurobiologically linked to 5-HT2A receptor...