Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental illness with limited treatment options and a high treatment dropout rate. Psychedelics, often in combination with psychotherapy, are now under investigation as a potential treatment option for a variety of psychiatric conditions including PTSD. This paper reviews the proposed mechanism of action ...
The main goal is to compare the antidepressant effects of psilocybin and ketamine in patients with TRD versus the antidepressant inactive substance midazolam. The primary endpoint will be the antidepressant effect on the Montgomery- Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) 24 hours after treatment, the key secondary endpoints being the duration of antidepressa...
Mushrooms have been used as traditional medicine for millennia, fungi are the main natural source of psychedelic compounds. There is now increasing interest in using fungal active compounds such as psychedelics for alleviating symptoms of mental health disorders including major depressive disorder, anxiety, and addiction. The anxiolytic, antidepressant and a...
There has been a reemergence of research into the use of substances such as LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. This increase in consideration toward the medicinal use of these compounds has been termed the "Psychedelic Renaissance." This article specifically explores the background of psilocybin, a psychoactive compound tha...
The idea of moral bio-enhancement has received considerable philosophical attention in the last 10 years. Yet, it has been extremely difficult to come up with plausible and feasible procedures for how to perform such enhancement. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether the psychedelic compound psilocybin, due to its prosocial effects, can be used for...
Despite a politically vilified past, classical psychedelics, including lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), are experiencing a revival in scientific and clinical research. When used under the appropriate guidance and setting, these substances show promise for substantially improving well-being and reducing mental ill-he...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ViewpointsFull AccessWait for the Science Before Widespread Use of PsilocybinNicole Harrington Cirino, M.D.Nicole Harrington Cirino, M.D.Published Online:28 Sep 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.10a32AbstractThe momentum behind psilocybin as the next big "breakthrough" in treating psychiatric dis...
Objectives: To investigate the safety of psychedelics for humans, to identify the limitations of the current evidence and to indicate how gaps and limitations may be addressed in future clinical trial design. Methodology: I completed a narrative review of the literature to investigate the safety profile and known adverse effects of psychedelics, with a speci...
Is it possible to gain knowledge 1 by taking psychedelic 2 drugs?One influential answer is 'yes': according to this conception, by inducing mystical states of consciousness, psychedelics afford direct knowledge of supernatural, transcendent dimensions of reality.This is an entheogenic conception of the drugs as agents that "generate the divine within".A seco...
IntroductionPsilocybin is a psychedelic tryptamine that has shown promise in recent clinical trials for the treatment of depression and substance use disorders. This open-label study of the pharmacokinetics of psilocybin was performed to describe the pharmacokinetics and safety profile of psilocybin in sequential, escalating oral doses of 0.3, 0.45, and 0.6 ...
Acute adverse psychological reactions to classic hallucinogens ("bad trips" or "challenging experiences"), while usually benign with proper screening, preparation, and support in controlled settings, remain a safety concern in uncontrolled settings (such as illicit use contexts). Anecdotal and case reports suggest potential adverse acute symptoms including a...
Current treatments for addiction are frequently ineffective. Hallucinogenic therapy has been indicated as helpful for a range of substance use disorders, yet this approach remains understudied and publicly unavailable. It is nonetheless a promising treatment, which has significant, long-term beneficial effects with single doses and a profile characterized by...
ContextResearchers conducted extensive investigations of hallucinogens in the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1970s, however, political and cultural pressures forced the cessation of all projects. This investigation reexamines a potentially promising clinical application of hallucinogens in the treatment of anxiety reactive to advanced-stage cancer.ObjectiveTo...
Capillary electrophoresis was utilized for the rapid determination of psilocybin in the hallucinogenic mushroom Psilocybe semilanceata. Following a simple two step extraction with 3.0 + 2.0 ml methanol, the hallucinogenic compound was effectively separated from matrix components utilizing capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with a 10 mM borate/phosphate run...
