Psychedelic Psychiatry: Preparing for Novel Treatments Involving Altered States of Consciousness.

The past decade has seen a renaissance of research interest into the psychotherapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds. In 2019, Oakland and Denver became the first two jurisdictions in the United States to decriminalize the possession of psychedelic-containing organisms. As research and public policy continue to evolve, it becomes increasingly plausible ...

Polypharmacology or "Pharmacological Promiscuity" In Psychedelic Research: What Are We Missing?

Research with psychedelic drugs has mainly focused on isolated compounds. However, this approach is challenged by the "polypharmacology" paradigm. In this Viewpoint, we suggest that we may be missing something if we do not use the whole product in the case of ayahuasca or mushrooms. After describing how research on psychedelic drugs can be effectively combin...

Efficacy of psychedelic treatments on depressive symptoms: A meta-analysis.

Psychedelic drugs have shown an efficacy in some psychiatric disorders and have an original mechanism of action with a 5-HT agonism. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess by a quantitative analysis the putative efficacy of psychedelic drugs on depressive symptoms and to investigate the kinetic of this efficacy. We searched the MEDLINE and PsycINFO data...

Integrating psychotherapy and psychopharmacology: psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and other combined treatments.

Combinations of psychotherapy with antidepressants are gold-standard psychiatric treatments. They operate through complex and interactional mechanisms, not unlike the reemergent paradigm of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, which promising research suggests may also be highly effective in even challenging populations. We review the therapeutic mechanisms b...

Correlation between the potency of hallucinogens in the mouse head-twitch response assay and their behavioral and subjective effects in other species.

Serotonergic hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) induce head twitches in rodents via 5-HT receptor activation. The goal of the present investigation was to determine whether a correlation exists between the potency of hallucinogens in the mouse head-twitch response (HTR) paradigm and their reported potencies in other species, specifically ...

Perceived outcomes of psychedelic microdosing as self-managed therapies for mental and substance use disorders.

The regular consumption of very small doses of psychedelic drugs (known as microdosing) has been a source of growing media and community attention in recent years. However, there is currently limited clinical and social research evidence on the potential role of microdosing as therapies for mental and substance use disorders. This paper examined subjective e...

Embedding existential psychology within psychedelic science: reduced death anxiety as a mediator of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics.

Psychedelic therapies can engender enduring improvements in psychological well-being. However, relatively little is known about the psychological mechanisms through which the salutary effects of psychedelics emerge. Through integrating extant research on psychedelics with contemporary existential psychology, we present a novel hypothesis that reduced death a...

Neuropharmacological modulation of the aberrant bodily self through psychedelics.

As a continual source of sensory input and fundamental component of self-referential processing, the body holds an integral modulatory role in cognition. In a healthy state, predictive coding of multisensory integration promotes the construction of a coherent self. However, several psychiatric disorders comprise aberrant perceptions of the bodily self that a...

Learning to Let Go: A Cognitive-Behavioral Model of How Psychedelic Therapy Promotes Acceptance.

The efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental disorders has been attributed to the lasting change from experiential avoidance to acceptance that these treatments appear to facilitate. This article presents a conceptual model that specifies potential psychological mechanisms underlying such change, and that shows substantial parallels between psyc...

Psychedelic Microdosing: A Subreddit Analysis.

Self-administration of very low doses of psychedelic drugs to improve mental health and wellbeing and enhance cognitive function, known as microdosing, has received recent media attention, but little research has been conducted. We conducted a content analysis of discussions about microdosing from the online forum Reddit. We examined motivations, dosing prac...

Editorial: Hallucinogens and Entactogens: Establishing a New Class of Drugs?

Psychedelic Research and the Need for Transparency: Polishing Alice's Looking Glass.

Psychedelics have a checkered past, alternately venerated as sacred medicines and vilified as narcotics with no medicinal or research value. After decades of international prohibition, a growing dissatisfaction with conventional mental health care and the pioneering work of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Science (MAPS) and others has spark...

Mystical Experiences in Retrospective Reports of First Times Using a Psychedelic in Finland.

Despite their acutely inebriating and sometimes unpleasant effects, some people report positive changes in life satisfaction, well-being, or mental health after taking psychedelic drugs. One explanation may be the ability of psychedelics to trigger mystical-type experiences. We examined the validity, reliability, and factor structure of a novel Finnish trans...

Commentary: Psychedelic Psychiatry's Brave New World.

Increased use of illicit drugs in a Dutch cluster headache population.

Many patients with cluster headache report use of illicit drugs. We systematically assessed the use of illicit drugs and their effects in a well-defined Dutch cluster headache population. In this cross-sectional explorative study, 756 people with cluster headache received a questionnaire on lifetime use and perceived effects of illicit drugs. Results were co...

Psychedelic medicine: The biology underlying the persisting psychedelic effects.

Psychedelic substances have regained interest as therapeutic agents in the treatment of stress-related disorders. The effects seem to be of persisting nature even after a single dose. Also in lower than 'regular' recreational doses, so-called micro-doses, without the typical effects on consciousness, users report beneficial effects on cognitive processes and...

Emerging from the dark side: new therapeutic applications of scheduled psychoactive substances.

Might Microdosing Psychedelics Be Safe and Beneficial? An Initial Exploration.

Albert Hoffman suggested that low doses of LSD might be an appropriate alternative to Ritalin. Following this possibility, a systematic exploration of the effects of "microdoses," comprising hundreds of lengthy descriptive reports, was undertaken. Based on these reports, using a psychedelic in the microdose range (10 micrograms) every three days was determin...

Self-Rated Effectiveness of Microdosing With Psychedelics for Mental and Physical Health Problems Among Microdosers.

There is a growing interest in the use of psychedelic substances for health related purposes, including symptom relief for disorders like anxiety, depression, and pain. Although the focus of recent clinical trials has been on high doses of these substances, anecdotal evidence suggests that low (micro) doses are also effective, and may be more suitable for ce...

Second and third year medical students' self-reported alcohol and substance use, smoking habits and academic performance at a South African medical school.

Health professional students frequently use alcohol and narcotics. The potential impact on academic performance and professional behaviour is concerning. This study aimed to determine self-reported use of alcohol, illicit substances (e.g. cannabis, lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD], magic mushroom, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, methamphetamine and heroin), prescri...