There is growing interest in exploring the therapeutic potential and mechanisms of action of psilocybin on stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), addiction, and disordered eating. Despite promising progressions in preclini...
People with eating disorders experience high rates of psychiatric comorbidities, including anxiety disorders such as generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and specific phobias. Anxiety can influence the prognosis of an eating disorder, by worsening symptoms, and acting as a barrier to treatment. Therefore, targeting treatment efforts towards ...
This Phase 2a clinical trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of a 3 mg dose of psilocybin oral solution for the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The study consists of three sequential phases: Screening Phase (up to 4 weeks), Open-label Run-in Phase (4 weeks), Double-blind Treatment Phase (4 weeks) Sc...
Microdosing, the repeated use of psychedelic substances at low doses, is growing in popularity among recreational consumers. While this practice is associated with many benefits to mood, well-being and health, research in this area is in its early stages and predominantly centered on human applications. In this narrative review, we synthesize the findings fr...
Psychedelics have re-emerged as promising treatments for mood disorders. The current model provides a moderate-to-high dose of a psychedelic agent (e.g., psilocybin) to reliably induce an altered state of consciousness. Unfortunately, the hallucinatory effects limit the treatment's potential scalability given patients' vulnerability and extensive monitoring ...
This viewpoint explores the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in treating neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly through the modulation of brain entropy and the experience of ego dissolution. Psychedelics disrupt rigid neural patterns, facilitating enhanced connectivity and fostering profound emotional breakthroughs that may alleviate symptoms of disor...
Psychedelic substances are increasingly recognized for their therapeutic potential to ease psychological suffering linked to end-of-life issues. However, amid renewed scientific and public interest, policy remains restrictive. Existing reviews have made progress in synthesizing the results of studies of psychedelic interventions, especially psilocybin, and p...
Psychotherapy in combination with pharmacological treatments is often used to treat affective symptoms in patients with cancer. However, the effectiveness of the most commonly used medications is limited by the risk of adverse effects. Two placebo-controlled trials have found that patients with cancer-related psychiatric distress experienced rapid and susta...
Psilocybin therapy (PT) is emerging as an effective intervention for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), offering comparable efficacy to conventional treatments like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Music, an emotionally evocative stimulus, provides a valuable tool to explore changes in hedonic and predictive processing mechanisms via expectancy...
Objective To evaluate psilocybin's efficacy in reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms in cancer patients based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods This systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) followed PRISMA and Cochrane Handbook guidelines. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library data up to July 2024 were analyzed. Two RCTs met the inclu...
ObjectivesPsychological and existential distress is prevalent among patients with life-threatening cancer, significantly impacting their quality of life. Psilocybin-assisted therapy has shown promise in alleviating these symptoms. This systematic review aims to synthesize the evidence on the efficacy and safety of psilocybin in reducing cancer-related distre...
The pressing need for effective fibromyalgia (FM) treatments, the known safety of psilocybin therapy, and the mechanistic plausibility for potential benefit provide a backdrop for investigating psilocybin therapy as a treatment for FM. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical benefit of oral psilocybin in concert with psychotherapy to ...
Psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound, has garnered renewed scientific interest for its potential in treating psychiatric and neurological disorders. This review systematically examines the latest research on psilocybin's pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical efficacy, and safety profile. Emerging evidence supports its efficacy in con...
ABSTRACT Studies reporting novel therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs are rapidly emerging. However, the reproducibility and reliability of these findings could remain uncertain for years. Here, we implemented a multi-institutional collaborative approach to define the robust and replicable effects of the psychedelic drug psilocybin on mouse behavior. Fiv...
Mood dysfunction is highly prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD), a main predictor of functional decline, and difficult to treat-novel interventions are critically needed. Psilocybin shows early promise for treating depression and anxiety, but its potential in PD is unknown, as safety concerns have excluded people with neurodegenerative disease from previous...
Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) has gained recognition as an innovative intervention in hospice and palliative care, demonstrating potential in mitigating the psychological, spiritual, and existential distress experienced by patients with serious illnesses. This article explores the role of PAT within these care settings, emphasizing its influence on vario...
Importance: There is growing societal interest in and use of psilocybin. While psilocybin in Canada is illegal outside of clinical trials, there have been anecdotal reports of increasing access via unregulated online purchases and retail dispensaries. Objective: To describe access to and the characteristics of psilocybin dispensaries across Canada and the he...
INTRODUCTION: Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) represents a substantial public health issue, especially in oncology settings where it affects up to 30% of bereaved carers. Current best-practice treatments are lengthy, and up to 50% of participants have persistent PGD. Building on encouraging recent research with psychedelic-assisted therapies, the Psilocybin-A...
