Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects 2-3% of the population worldwide. 40-60% of patients do not respond to first-line interventions. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of a single dose of psilocybin in patients with treatment-resistant OCD. Methods: In this phase 2, randomized, double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 28 adults with tre...
Psychedelic substances reliably occasion transient self-transcendent states, including mystical-type experiences, which are theorized to support salutogenic psychological change and long-term well-being. Despite growing interest in these phenomena, little is known about how acute self-transcendent states translate into enduring trait-level changes, or whethe...
Personality disorders (PDs) are characterized by rigid and maladaptive patterns of self- and interpersonal functioning, leading to high clinical burden and limited treatment outcomes. Schema Therapy (ST), an integrative psychotherapy rooted in cognitive-behavioral principles, conceptualizes PDs in terms of Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS)-pervasive cognitive-...
Introduced in 2014 and revised in 2018, the entropic brain hypothesis has accrued a wealth of supportive evidence. The hypothesis states that- along a dimension of breadth of conscious experience- ‘expansive states’ reliably exhibit increased brain entropy whereas the inverse applies for states of no or reduced consciousness. Examples of expansive states inc...
As psychedelic use increases, understanding how demographic and behavioral factors influence the effects of psychedelics is essential for both research and public health. This cross-sectional retrospective study examined 365 people who currently use psilocybin, analyzing differences in acute experiences, psychological outcomes, and substance co-use patterns....
Alcohol use disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by excessive alcohol consumption. The drugs that are used to treat it often fail to prevent relapse. At the same time, psilocybin is increasingly being investigated for the treatment of various substance use disorders. This review aims to evaluate the results of the most recent clinical trials ass...
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...
The etiology of OCD is complex and appears to involve multiple biological pathways. Imbalances in central serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate activities are widely thought to play a causative role. Despite strong evidence supporting first-line OCD pharmacotherapies, approximately 40-60 % of OCD patients remain unresponsive and are considered treatment resista...
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...
Alcohol use disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by excessive alcohol consumption. The drugs that are used to treat it often fail to prevent relapse. At the same time, psilocybin is increasingly being investigated for the treatment of various substance use disorder. This review aims to evaluate the results of the most recent clinical trials asse...
Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting roughly 322 million people. Recently, doses of psilocybin have shown promise in treating mood disorders, sparking interest in other dosing practices. According to anecdotal reports and observational studies, microdosing psilocybin yields benefits to mental hea...
Background and Aims The ongoing opioid epidemic remains a major public health crisis in the United States, with over 100,000 opioid-related deaths annually. Mental health disorders are strongly associated with opioid use disorder (OUD), compounding risks of misuse and overdose. Emerging evidence indicates that psychedelics may be associated with reduced risk...
Chronic pain affects millions of people and remains one of the greatest clinical challenges due to limited response to conventional therapies. Psilocybin, a psychedelic found in mushrooms of the Psilocybe genus, has sparked interest due to its potential to modulate serotonergic receptors and promote neuroplasticity, suggesting analgesic and psychotherapeutic...
Alcohol use disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by excessive alcohol consumption. The drugs that are used to treat it often fail to prevent relapse. At the same time, psilocybin is increasingly being investigated for the treatment of various substance use disorder. This review aims to evaluate the results of the most recent clinical trials asse...
Psychedelic use in naturalistic settings in Australia is increasing. Although the risks and harms of psychedelics from a physical perspective are low, psychedelic drugs carry a unique psychological risk profile which is increased in uncontrolled settings. Harm reduction support services align with the Australian Government's Federal Drug strategy, which incl...
The potential use of psychedelic-assisted therapy for adolescents with mental illness has sparked both interest and concern. Modern psychedelic research has focused on adults, and adolescents younger than 18 years are typically excluded due to ethical and legal challenges. To explore whether adolescents have been included in 21st century psychedelic research...
Based on promising preliminary results from clinical trials, it seems likely that psychedelic substances (classic serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, and entactogens, such as MDMA) will be introduced into psychiatry as psychedelic-assisted therapy. This also raises a range of ethical questions that urgently need to be addressed before widespread r...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) frequently utilises a “cotherapy” model, in which two therapists jointly support participants or patients through preparation, dosing, and integration sessions. While common in clinical trials, the experience of cotherapy from the participant perspective remains underexplored. This qualitative study examined experiences of ...
