OBJECTIVES: Interest in psilocybin as a treatment for depression has risen over the past decade, fuelled by promising clinical trials and a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. Media coverage plays a critical role in shaping public perceptions, yet little is known about how psilocybin is portrayed in global anglophone online news for the treatment of depre...
Introduction:Psilocybin, a classical psychedelic, has shown to produce persistent antidepressant effects, including in patients with treatment-resistant depression. In clinical practice, it is common to coprescribe benzodiazepines (BZDs) alongside antidepressants. However, our preliminary study indicated that preadministration of lorazepam diminished the ant...
Abstract Substance use disorders (SUDs) are increasingly common in the United States, and while this may be a dilemma for those using, it also inflicts problems for those around the user. In couples where drug abuse is present, negative codependent characteristics can arise independently in the non-user, having a damaging effect on the couple dynamic. This i...
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...
Griffiths et al.'s recent "Effects of Psilocybin on Religious and Spiritual Attitudes and Behaviors in Clergy from Various Major World Religions" is an important study in the literature on psychedelic medicine and religious experience. In this commentary on the study, we argue: (1) The study design's implicit presupposition of perennialism in its conception ...
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 ...
This project will employ functional brain imaging to study the mechanism and immediate and long-term effects of psilocybin, a serotonin receptor 2A agonist, on cortical and cortico-subcortical brain networks in healthy adults. Psilocybin shows promise as a safe, transformational therapeutic across several psychiatric conditions. However, little is know about...
Adolescent depression is a significant public health concern, yet treatment options remain limited, particularly due to age- and sex-related differences in antidepressant efficacy. This study explored for the first time the potential antidepressant-like response of psilocybin in adolescence by examining acute, repeated and persistent effects in Sprague-Dawle...
Psilocybin is found in a family of mushrooms commonly known as Psilocybe. We aimed to study the antinociceptive efficacy of psilocybin using formalin-induced noxious stimuli, a model that comprises both acute and persistent pain in rats. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Psilocybin (0.1, 0.3, and 1 mg/kg, IP) or vehicle was administered, and 6 h late...
BACKGROUND: Depression and burnout, which are common among healthcare workers, were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and psilocybin have been reported to reduce depressive symptoms, but the efficacy of the combination requires comparison to an active treatment control. We sought to evaluate the safety and prelim...
Background/Objectives: This study examines the development of clinical trials investigating psilocybin for the treatment of psychopathologies, with a comparative focus on the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). The objective is to identify regional differences in trial progression, research infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks. Methods: A mi...
Background: Cancer poses an existential threat for patients and caregivers. Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) has emerged as a potential tool to meet these existential needs, yet little is known about how patients describe this element of their cancer journey, and how it might be affected by PAT, especially in the group therapy context. Purpose: To explore h...
BACKGROUND: People with HIV (PWH) are disproportionately affected by cigarette use, with a 40 - 70% prevalence rate. Although many express a strong interest in quitting, many PWH who smoke experience lower cessation rates with traditional treatments, in part due to their comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms. Psilocybin, a classic psychedelic referred to ...
The goal of this clinical trial is to test the feasibility of combining meditation with psilocybin microdosing in healthy adults. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Recruitment and retention feasibility 2. Acceptability, Safety and Tolerability 3. Exploratory Measures: 3.1: Explore potential changes in sleep quality and duration, heart rate variabi...
