This article presents the case of a young woman in her mid-twenties with a history of depression since childhood. She lived with a mother who failed to take care of her. The patient cared for the emotional needs of the mother instead of the mother caring for the daughter's needs. Her father was mostly absent. Already around the age of thirteen, the patient w...
This article presents the case of a young woman in her mid-twenties with a history of depression since childhood. She lived with a mother who failed to take care of her. The patient cared for the emotional needs of the mother instead of the mother caring for the daughter's needs. Her father was mostly absent. Already around the age of thirteen, the patient w...
Psilocybin therapy is an emerging intervention for depression that may be at least as effective as standard first-line treatments i.e., Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). Here we assess neural responses to emotional faces (fear, happy, and neutral) using Blood Oxygen-Level Dependent (BOLD) functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in two gro...
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a surge in depression cases, a pervasive and debilitating mental illness1. This trend is evident in the increased prescriptions for antidepressants. Depression is a chronic condition that affects a significant proportion of the global population, with ~280 million people, or about 3.8%, suffering from it. As a result, it...
Abstract Background Psilocybin Therapy (PT) is being increasingly studied as a psychiatric intervention. Personality relates to mental health and can be used to probe the nature of PT's therapeutic action. Methods In a phase 2, double-blind, randomized, active comparator controlled trial involving patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder, w...
Background: In a recent clinical trial examining the comparative efficacy of psilocybin therapy (PT) versus escitalopram treatment (ET) for major depressive disorder, 14 of 16 major efficacy outcome measures yielded results that favored PT, but the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, Self-Report, 16 items (QIDS-SR16 ) did not. Aims: The present stu...
Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety are major contributors to the overall global health burden. COVID-19 has further aggravated mental health disorders and also increased substance abuse due to lockdowns1. The Global Burden of Disease reported that the pandemic has led to a 27.6% increase in cases of major depressive disorder (MDD) and a 2...
ObjectivesTo perform a Bayesian reanalysis of a recent trial of psilocybin (COMP360) versus escitalopram for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in order to provide a more informative interpretation of the indeterminate outcome of a previous frequentist analysis.DesignReanalysis of a two-arm double-blind placebo controlled trial.ParticipantsFifty-nine patients w...
This publication discusses two compounds belonging to the psychoactive substances group which are studied in the context of depression treatment-psilocybin and esketamine. The former is a naturally occurring psychedelic. The latter was invented in the laboratory exactly 60 years ago. Although the substances were controversial in the past, recent studies indi...
Abstract Preliminary clinical findings, supported by preclinical studies employing behavioral paradigms such as marble-burying, suggest that psilocybin may be effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. On this background, we set out to explore 1) the role of 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors in the effect of psilocybin on marble-burying; 2) the effect of...
BackgroundMajor depressive disorder is often associated with maladaptive coping strategies, including rumination and thought suppression.AimsTo assess the comparative effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram, and the serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin (COMP360), on rumination and thought suppression in major depressive disorder.Meth...
The hallucinogen psilocybin is a potential novel treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Our goal is to review current knowledge on psilocybin and its efficacy in TRD. Literature searches were done on PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar, references reviewed in identified articles and other articles found on the website of COMPASS Pathways. ...
ObjectiveSerotonergic psychedelics are re-emerging as potential novel treatments for several psychiatric disorders including major depressive disorder. The Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) convened a task force to review the evidence and provide a consensus recommendation for the clinical use of psychedelic treatments for major depre...
Purpose of the reviewWe aim to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge about the efficacy of psilocybin in the treatment of depression, as well as its mechanisms of action.Recent findingsPsilocybin has a large, rapid, and persistent clinical effect in the treatment of resistant or end-of-life depression. Tolerance is good, with mild side effect...
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 ...
Carhart-Harris R, Giribaldi B, Nutt DJ et al. Trial of psilocybin versus escitalopram for depression. N Engl J Med 2021; 384: 1402-1411. doi:10.1056/ NEJMoa2032994
Background Preliminary clinical findings, supported by preclinical studies employing behavioral paradigms such as marble-burying, suggest that psilocybin may be effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aims To explore 1) the role of 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors in the effect of psilocybin on marble-burying; 2) the effect of staggered versus bolus ...
Objectives: To perform a Bayesian reanalysis of a recent trial of psilocybin (COMP360) versus escitalopram for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in order to provide a more informative interpretation of the indeterminate outcome of a previous frequentist analysis. Design: Reanalysis of a two-arm double-blind placebo controlled trial.Participants: Fifty-nine pat...