The psychedelic mushroom Psilocybe cubensis is cultivated worldwide for recreational and medicinal use. Described initially from Cuba in 1906, there has been substantial debate about its origin and diversification. The prevailing view is that P. cubensis was inadvertently introduced to the Americas when cattle were introduced to the continent from Africa and...
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if psilocybin, given with psychological support, is safe and helps treat anorexia nervosa in young adults. Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder that currently has no approved medicine. Psilocybin is a psychedelic substance that may help the brain form new connections, which could make it easier for people ...
This randomised controlled feasibility trial evaluates the Digital Intervention for Psychedelic Preparation (DIPP), a novel 21-day self-guided program designed to prepare individuals for psychedelic experiences. Forty healthy volunteers will be randomly assigned to either a meditation-based intervention or a music-based control condition. Both groups will fo...
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a highly prevalent disorder with limited therapeutic options. The central amygdala (CeA) is a critical brain region as dysregulation within the CeA and the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system are associated with AUD pathology. CeA CRF1 receptors regulate alcohol drinking and have served as a therapeutic target in alcohol...
Psychedelic Minimalism: The Case Against Music in Psychedelic Therapy SettingsIn response to: Kaelen et al. (2018), “The Hidden Therapist: Evidence for a Central Role ofMusic in Psychedelic Therapy.”Introduction: Reframing the Role of SettingIn recent years, renewed attention has been given to the centrality of set and setting inpsychedelic-assisted therapy....
Abstract Music is integral to Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP), believed to enhance therapeutic outcomes by structuring experiences and facilitating emotional expression. However, the effects of conducting PAP without music are underexplored. This study examines the experiences of two breast cancer patients undergoing psilocybin therapy under Canada's...
Abstract The mechanisms by which Psilocybin Therapy (PT) improves depression remain an important object of study, with scientists actively exploring acute psychological experiences and neurobiological processes as candidates. In a phase 2, double-blind, randomized, active comparator controlled trial involving patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive...
“Pretty girls don't buy cocaine,” Greta1 says and laughs as she walks out the front door.My hands and face sting as I stand frozen in the entryway and hear her start the car. I'd asked my twenty-two-year-old daughter where she got the money to feed the addictions she was battling.Over the past three years, she'd chosen a few subpar boyfriends who introduced ...
Since reports about CIA-funded LSD studies came out in the 1970s, psychedelic drugs have invoked images of unethical experimentation and “mad scientists” in the public imagination. Even now, as the stigma surrounding psychedelics diminishes in the 21st century, the figure of the “mad scientist” continues to occupy a space in what Ido Hartogsohn calls the “co...
Abstract Psychedelics are a broad class of drugs defined by their ability to induce an altered state of consciousness 1,2. These drugs have been used for millennia in both spiritual and medicinal contexts, and a number of recent clinical successes have spurred a renewed interest in developing psychedelic therapies 3-9. Nevertheless, a unifying mechanism that...
While a relatively large body of research exists on many aspects of psychedelic therapy, articles describing a complete, successful treatment process are rarely found. This article therefore presents a case of a woman in her early forties with early complex trauma due to domestic violence, sexual abuse and poverty in her childhood, resulting in approximately...
While a relatively large body of research exists on many aspects of psychedelic therapy, articles describing a complete, successful treatment process are rarely found. This article therefore presents a case of a woman in her early forties with early complex trauma due to domestic violence, sexual abuse and poverty in her childhood, resulting in approximately...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Journal DigestFull AccessJournal Digest: Home Environment; Postpartum Mental Illness; Placebo in Psychedelic Study; Single Gene Mutation; TopiramateNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:28 May 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.6a34Nurturing Home Environme...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & ResearchFull AccessCan Psychedelics Radically Change SUD Treatment?Katie O'ConnorKatie O'ConnorPublished Online:20 Mar 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.2a12AbstractThough the field is young, psychedelics appear to hold promise as a treatment for addiction, even as barriers to research...
During the 1950s and 1960s, there was a tremendous surge in research into the effects of psychedelic drugs. When discussing this period of research, the discovery of the psychoactive properties of LSD in 1943 is often presented as the main, and sometimes only, driving force of the boom in research. This "Great Person," or "Great Chemical," historiographical ...
Psilocybin is a classic (serotonergic) hallucinogen ("psychedelic" drug) that may occasion mystical experiences (characterized by a profound feeling of oneness or unity) during acute effects. Such experiences may have therapeutic value. Research and clinical applications of psychedelics usually include music listening during acute drug effects, based on the ...
Presented at a conference titled “Psychedelic Science 2013,” highlighting the resumption of investigations with psychedelic substances (i.e., psilocybin, DMT, LSD, MMDA, etc.) in the United States and Europe after a dormant period of more than two decades, the author presents insights and perspectives gleaned from his 25 years of clinical research experience...
