RationaleA general feeling of disconnection has been associated with mental and emotional suffering. Improvements to a sense of connectedness to self, others and the wider world have been reported by participants in clinical trials of psychedelic therapy. Such accounts have led us to a definition of the psychological construct of 'connectedness' as 'a state ...
ContextPeople affected by serious illness usually experience suffering in its various dimensions, not only in the physical but also in the psychosocial and spiritual aspects. The interest in psychedelic-assisted therapies as a potential new therapeutic modality has increased since evidence suggests a significant impact of their use on the outcomes of patient...
Existential distress is a significant source of suffering for patients facing life-threatening illness. Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (PAT) are novel treatments that have shown promise in treating existential distress, but openness to providing PAT may be limited by stigma surrounding psychedelics and the paucity of education regarding their medical use. Ho...
Treatments for addressing psychiatric mental health issues in vulnerable patients with cancer are established. Yet, many patients persist with unrelenting psychological difficulties despite intervention. There is growing interest in the role of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for managing treatment-resistant mental health challenges in patients with cancer...
Cancer is not limited to the physical dimension, but it also affects the entire biopsychosocial context in which the patient is inserted, making him more susceptible to psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. These often require pharmacological intervention, and the use of psilocybin, a substance found in mushroom species, is one of the alterna...
There is a growing body of research suggesting that palliative care patients coping with existential distress may benefit from psilocybin. However, there is a large gap regarding the perceptions of palliative care providers who may provide education, counseling services, recommendations, and/or prescriptions for psilocybin if it is decriminalized, commercial...
Healthful behaviours such as maintaining a balanced diet, being physically active and refraining from smoking have major impacts on the risk of developing cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other serious conditions. The burden of the so-called 'lifestyle diseases'-in personal suffering, premature mortality and public health costs-is considerable. ...
Healthful behaviors such as maintaining a balanced diet, being physically active, and refraining from smoking have major impacts on the risk of developing cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other serious conditions. The burden of the so-called “lifestyle diseases” - in personal suffering, premature mortality, and public health costs - is consider...
Healthful behaviors such as maintaining a balanced diet, being physically active, and refraining from smoking have major impacts on the risk of developing cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other serious conditions. The burden of the so-called “lifestyle diseases” - in personal suffering, premature mortality, and public health costs - is consider...
Depression is a major public health problem that affects approximately 4.4% of the global population. Since conventional pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies are only partially effective, as demonstrated by the number of patients failing to achieve remission, alternative treatments are needed. Mindfulness meditation (MM) and psilocybin represent two promisi...
Cancer is highly prevalent and one of the leading causes of global morbidity and mortality. Psychological and existential suffering is common in cancer patients, associated with poor psychiatric and medical outcomes. Promising early-phase clinical research (1960s to early 1970s) suggested a therapeutic signal for serotoninergic psychedelics (e.g. psilocybin,...
ObjectiveTo explore whether psilocybin with psychological support modulates personality parameters in patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression (TRD).MethodTwenty patients with moderate or severe, unipolar, TRD received oral psilocybin (10 and 25 mg, one week apart) in a supportive setting. Personality was assessed at baseline and at 3-month fol...
This chapter reviews what is known about the therapeutic uses of the serotonergic or classic hallucinogens, i.e., psychoactive drugs such as LSD and psilocybin that exert their effects primarily through agonist activity at serotonin 2A (5HT2A) receptors. Following a review of the history of human use and scientific study of these drugs, the data from clinica...
Interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances has recently resumed. During an early phase of human psychedelic research, their therapeutic application in different pathologies had been suggested, and the first evidence for efficacy was provided. The range of recent clinical applications of psychedelics spans from cluster headaches and obses...
