The global demographic shift toward aging populations has intensified the need for innovative therapeutic interventions targeting late-life mental health conditions, notably depression, loneliness, and existential distress. Traditional pharmacological treatments often exhibit limited efficacy and poor tolerability in older patients, primarily due to age-rela...
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND: The therapeutic effects of psilocybin treatment are thought to be influenced by the subjective dose-dependent psychedelic experience, as well as the individual participant's mindset and the treatment environment. However, the relative contribution of an individual's pretreatment clinical characteristics and their subjective psychedelic ex...
“Magic mushrooms” produce a naturally occurring psychedelic compound called psilocybin. Public opinion surrounding psilocybin mushrooms generally holds that they are primarily used for recreational purposes, which may have contributed to their widespread prohibition in the United States. However, prior studies have demonstrated the potential efficacy of psil...
Humphry Osmond coined the term ‘psychedelic’ in 1956, conjoining ‘psyche’ for ‘soul’ and ‘delic’ from ‘dêlos’ for ‘to manifest’ or ‘illuminate.’ Soul-illumination is an adjective that describes a psychological state or process. However, Osmond’s intention was to use the adjective to name- not just a state- but a category of drug that can induce the subjectiv...
In their recent case report article, Peck and colleagues suggested that two patients recovered dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa. These case reports are of clinical and scientific interest and confirm that psychedelics may induce vivid memory-like experiences. However, the reports warrant scrutiny. Here, based on...
In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act and swiftly placed psilocybin (the active chemical in “magic mushrooms”) under Schedule I-the strictest level of regulation withheld for substances with “no currently accepted medical use.” While the United States has maintained this rigid framework, Jamaica has taken the opposite approach. Psilocybin wa...
This narrative review synthesized the use of psilocybin-assisted therapy as a promising treatment for alleviating death anxiety in terminally ill patients. The insights presented are derived from findings reported in previous studies. Therefore, this review aimed to assess the efficacy, pharmacology, and mechanisms by which psilocybin alters brain function b...
Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: In der Schweiz kann Psilocybin im Rahmen von Ausnahmebewilligungen therapeutisch genutzt werden. Programm: Die Klinik Südhang entwickelte basierend auf Evidenz und Ethik ein standardisiertes Programm für Psilocybin-assistierte Gruppenpsychotherapie bei Abhängigkeitserkrankungen. Das quartalsweise durchgeführte Programm umfasst D...
Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition leading to significant personal and societal burden. Standard treatments frequently demonstrate limited efficacy, leading to persistent symptoms and high dropout rates. Psilocybin has shown promise in treating depression, a condition that is often comorbid with PTSD. We aimed to ex...
Depression is a debilitating mental disorder affecting millions worldwide, yet current pharmacological treatments, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), often exhibit delayed onset and limited efficacy. The chronic social defeat (CSD) stress model in mice is a well-established preclinical paradigm for inducing depression-like behaviors and...
Background: Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) may be an effective intervention for a range of mental disorders. However, there appears to be a relative lack of qualitative evidence to complement emerging quantitative findings. To our knowledge, no reviews have systematically mapped the literature on qualitative studies on PAP for the treatment of menta...
Psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound, has received attention as a novel therapeutic option for major depressive disorder (MDD), particularly in cases where traditional treatments prove ineffective. The study aims to evaluate psilocybin's therapeutic potential by examining its efficacy, safety, and mechanisms of action as well as addressing ...
BACKGROUND: Cognitive difficulties within treatment-resistant unipolar and bipolar depression (TRD; TRBD) often do not improve with conventional pharmacotherapies. Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) has shown promise as a novel intervention for TRD; however, few studies have assessed its effects on cognition in this population. METHODS: This retrospecti...
