Depression and psychological distress are highly prevalent among patients with cancer and are associated with impaired quality of life, reduced treatment adherence, and poorer clinical outcomes. Standard pharmacological and psychosocial interventions often demonstrate limited efficacy or delayed onset of action in oncological and palliative settings. Psilocy...
Psilocybin-assisted therapies are innovative therapeutic approaches, particularly in the treatment of depression. However, there are sparse studies providing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence elucidating the underlying biological mechanisms that support clinical outcomes. This review aims to comprehensively gather all the evidence reporte...
BACKGROUND: New legal frameworks for supervised psychedelic services are emerging, with Oregon and Colorado implementing programs to train and license psilocybin facilitators. This study describes Oregon's early psilocybin facilitator workforce and assesses state-approved training programs. METHODS: The Open Psychedelic Evaluation Nexus (OPEN) reviewed Orego...
PURPOSE: The purpose of this review is to evaluate which psychedelics have the most efficacy data to support their use in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This review also aims to assess safety data and concerns related to psychedelic therapies and identify demographic characteristics that may influence clinical outcomes. SUMMARY: A sys...
Rationale: Ego-dissolution represents a key therapeutic mechanism in psychedelic-assisted therapy, yet current measurement approaches may inadequately capture its multidimensional nature. Objective: To develop and validate the Multidimensional Ego-Dissolution Assessment (MEDA) and examine substance-specific patterns across classical psychedelics. Methods: It...
This article corrects an idea in psychedelic science and culture that the ancient Eleusynian Mysteries used psychedelics, as claimed by Carl Ruck and co-authors in (1978), revitalized by Brian Muraresku's (2020), and popularized by social media heavyweights such as Joe Rogan. It begins by exposing critical methodological flaws in the arguments, namely, a pat...
Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent and disabling psychiatric condition associated with substantial clinical, social, and economic burden [1,2]. Despite the availability of conventional antidepressants, their limited effectiveness, delayed onset of action, and high relapse rates have renewed interest in innovative therapeutic ap...
Psilocybin, a classic psychedelic compound, has garnered renewed interest as a potential treatment for various psychiatric disorders. This review provides a comprehensive overview of psilocybin's history, recent clinical evidence, ongoing clinical trials, neuroimaging findings, and regulations. Historically used in spiritual and healing rituals, psilocybin w...
BackgroundPsychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin have shown a beneficial effect on substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms. In this systematic review, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of psychoactive tryptamines in patients with an SUD or non-substance-related disorder (i.e., gambling disorder) in order to provide a comp...
Background: Informed consent in psychedelic-assisted services is ethically complex, difficult to implement, and remains largely unstudied and unstandardized. Objective: The current study sought expert recommendations from experienced psychedelic facilitators on what constitutes informed consent best practices for supervised psychedelic experiences across var...
INTRODUCTION: This article presents a narrative review of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy as a promising intervention for addressing anxiety, depression and psycho-existential distress in patients with advanced cancer. This group of disorders, often resistant to conventional treatments, significantly impacts patients' quality of life and autonomy, as well ...
Demoralization syndrome (DS) - a distinct clinical entity characterized by helplessness, hopelessness, and a persistent loss of meaning - affects approximately one in five Canadians with advanced cancer and is associated with increased desire for hastened death, negative clinical outcomes, and higher economic burden, yet recognition and treatment of DS remai...
We carried out a systematic review of modern-era (1990-2025) placebo-controlled studies assessing the acute and post-acute effects of lysergic acid diethylamide, dimethyltryptamine and psilocybin on cognitive and psychological functions. From February 28 to March 19, 2025, PubMed and APA PsychINFO were systematically searched for placebo-controlled studies e...
Background: Psilocybin treatment has shown promise across a range of psychiatric conditions. Mystical-type experiences during dosing sessions have been shown to predict the clinical effects of psilocybin treatment in depression, anxiety, and addiction. However, no studies have examined whether acute subjective experiences predict treatment response in obsess...
Serotonergic psychedelics, such as lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin, and the entactogen 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine exhibit agonist activity at the 5-hydroxytryptamine 2B receptor, a signalling pathway known to mechanistically mediate drug-induced valvular heart disease. This systematic review evaluates whether chronic or repeated use of psyc...
This manuscript comprehensively reviews psilocybin-assisted therapy for major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression. It aims to synthesize current understanding regarding its mechanisms, efficacy, safety, costs, and accessibility, comparing it with conventional antidepressant and ketamine treatments. The methodology involved a narrative synt...
Background: Psychedelic substances have been used for millennia in religious and healing contexts and have recently re-emerged as subjects of scientific interest due to advances in neuroscience and psychiatry. Research suggests that psychedelics may address limitations of conventional psychiatric treatments, particularly in disorders such as major depressive...
Background: As public and scientific interest in psychedelics grows, unsupervised use for health purposes is increasing. In the U.S., past-year hallucinogen use nearly doubled from 2015 to 2023. Many individuals report self-treating physical or psychological symptoms without medical supervision using psychedelics-a practice termed self-medication. Despite th...
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has been well-researched within scientific literature, although the therapeutic value of psilocybin is not fully understood. The aim of this systematic review is to determine a stable and effective dosage unit to inform health professionals of the benefits of psilocybin, using peer-reviewed literature and meta-analysis. T...
