Although psychedelics were banned from medical research for about fifty years, recent early-phase studies indicate they may offer unique therapeutic benefits for various mental health and substance use disorders. When effective, psychedelic experiences often involve phenomena not typically observed in other medical or psychiatric interventions, such as a dim...
Psychedelic treatment with psilocybin is receiving increased attention following clinical trials showing it may help treat end-of-life anxiety, depression, and several other conditions. Despite this, physicians may be reluctant to prescribe psilocybin and carry out psilocybin treatment because of the stigma surrounding psychedelics and the potential for medi...
This article traces the trajectories of psilocybin and ayahuasca in the context of the psychedelic renaissance. The bibliometric analysis reveals that academic publications on psilocybin fall primarily into the medical and scientific areas, whereas those devoted to ayahuasca derive mainly from humanities and social sciences. Second, the article argues that p...
Background: Psilocybin can produce long-term changes in personality, personal values, and behavior. Although psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) is being actively studied for various psychiatric conditions, its effects on personal values in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) remain unexplored. This study examined the effects of PAT on personal values in ...
Background: Bipolar II disorder (BD-II) is often associated with chronic and treatment resistant major depressive episodes. Psilocybin has shown promise for its rapid-acting antidepressant effects, though its impact on bipolar depression remains unexplored. In the present subgroup analysis of an already published trial on treatment-resistant depression (TRD)...
OBJECTIVES: Understanding variations in knowledge and attitudes of psychiatrists to psilocybin therapy is important for the collective discourse about the potential impact on clinical practice and public health in Ireland. METHODS: A28-item questionnaire was designed based on previous studies and distributed to psychiatrists in Ireland via online mailing lis...
Background: Psilocybin therapy (PT) produces rapid and persistent antidepressant effects in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the long-term effects of PT have never been compared with gold-standard treatments for MDD such as pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy alone or in combination. Methods: This is a 6-month follow-up study of a phase 2, double-blind...
Title: Use of psilocybin in the treatment of mental disorders: systematic review of clinical trials. Objective: To evaluate the high-impact evidence on the neurobiology, efficacy, safety, and feasibility of using psilocybin in the treatment of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (P...
Introduction:Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) has gained traction in palliative care as a treatment for existential distress in the last decade. Patients with brain cancer have been excluded from studies, yet they stand to benefit as much as other patients with cancer-related psychological distress. Case description:In this report, we discuss the case of a ...
This work utilized fMRI to assess the influence of the psychedelics, Psilocybin, a serotonergic agonist, and Salvinorin-A, a kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) agonist, on functional connectivity (FC) in non-human primates. We used a seed-based FC analysis, probing regions of interest associated with psychedelic hallucinogens. Our findings highlight the overlapping...
The goal of this study is to assess the effectiveness of psilocybin for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder and potential therapeutic mechanisms. Enrolled participants will receive a single active dose of psilocybin, or a dose considered high enough to treat depression, administered orally with accompanying psychological support.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental health condition that can occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. The impact of PTSD extends beyond the individual, affecting families, communities, and society as a whole. This study aims to investigate the potential of psilocybin as a treatment for PTSD. Psilocybin, after bein...
For a new clinical trial testing a group retreat-based format of psilocybin-assisted therapy, our research team created an initial set of practice guidelines that aimed to describe facilitator use of touch in a way that is ethical, supportive, and minimizes harm. In our first three retreats, however, we had two unexpected experiences with touch that led us t...
Background: Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug with potential therapeutic effects in patients with mood and substance use disorders. Little is known about its impact on the immune system. Methods: Multiplex immunoassay pro-inflammatory cytokine panels (Meso-Scale Discovery, Rockville, MD) were used to examine the serum from participants in three separate rando...
Background: Internationally, there is a growing interest in the potential benefits of psilocybin-assisted therapy to treat existential distress at the end of life. However, the social acceptability of this therapy is not yet well known. Aim: This study assesses the social acceptability of the medical use of psilocybin to treat existential distress at the end...
