Introduction Psilocybin is considered a classical psychedelic and is increasingly attracting scientific and media attention as an alternative approach to the treatment of various mental disorders. Apart from its efficacy, an important question is the tolerability and safety of psilocybin in general and in a controlled environment. Accurate knowledge of drug ...
Eating disorders (ED) are a group of potentially severe mental disorders characterized by abnormal energy balance, cognitive dysfunction, and emotional distress. Cognitive inflexibility is a major challenge to successful ED treatment and dysregulated serotonergic function has been implicated in this symptomatic dimension. Moreover, there are few effective tr...
More than 50 million people in the United States serve as uncompensated informal caregivers to chronically ill friends or family members. Providing care to a sick loved one can contribute to personal growth but can also cause significant strain. Caregiver distress refers to a constellation of physiological, psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual impairm...
BackgroundClassic serotonergic psychedelics have anecdotally been reported to show a characteristic pattern of subacute effects that persist after the acute effects of the substance have subsided. These transient effects, sometimes labeled as the 'psychedelic afterglow', have been suggested to be associated with enhanced effectiveness of psychotherapeutic in...
This article presents an exploration of naturally occurring Class-A magic mushroom markets in the UK. It aims to challenge some of the mainstream narratives about drug markets and to identify features of this specific market, which will extend our understanding of how illegal drug markets operate and are structured more generally. The research presented comp...
No single effective therapy for alcohol abuse has been found, despite it being a serious sociological and economic problem for hundreds of years. It seems difficult to find a single drug as a panacea for the alcohol problem due to the complexity of the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence. The purpose of this narrative review is to review existing and poten...
The potential of psychedelics to persistently treat substance use disorders is known since the 1960s. However, the biological mechanisms responsible for their therapeutic effects have not yet been fully elucidated. While it is known that serotonergic hallucinogens induce changes in gene expression and neuroplasticity, particularly in prefrontal regions, theo...
While the literature on psychedelic medicine emphasizes the importance of set and setting alongside the quality of subjective drug effects for therapeutic efficacy, few scholars have explored the therapeutic frameworks that are used alongside psychedelics in the lab or in the clinic. Based on a narrative analysis of the treatment manual and post-session expe...
Exactly What Are Magic Mushrooms? Why they are popular in British Columbia Magic mushrooms will be the term that defines fungi that is psychoactive, more often than not it really is associated with psilocybin-containing mushrooms.
Purpose/backgroundThere has been resurgence of interest in the therapeutic use of serotonergic ("classic") psychedelics in major depressive disorder (MDD) and end-of-life distress. This commentary offers a critical appraisal of current evidence for antidepressant effects of classic psychedelics from contemporary clinical trials and highlights pitfalls that s...
This is a narrative review about the role of classic and two atypical psychedelics in the treatment of unipolar and bipolar depression. Since the 1990s, psychedelics experience a renaissance in biomedical research. The so-called classic psychedelics include lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, mescaline and ayahuasca. Characteristic effects like alt...
BackgroundPostpartum depression (PPD) is a major public health concern and has, at its core, a sense of maternal 'disconnection' - from the self, the infant, and the support system. While PPD bears similarities with MDD, there is increasing evidence for its distinct nature, especially with the unique aspect of the mother-infant relationship. Current treatmen...
With emerging information about the potential for morbidity and reduced life expectancy with long-term use of opioids, it is logical to evaluate nonopioid analgesic treatments to manage pain states. Combinations of drugs can provide additive and/or synergistic effects that can benefit the management of pain states. In this regard, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) ...
There is currently renewed interest in the use of psychedelic therapy in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, including depression. The proposed systematic review will aim to identify, evaluate and summarise the psychological processes of change underlying psychedelic therapy for depression in the current literature and consider the implications these pro...
Psilocybin as a novel treatment for depression is garnering a lot of attention from both the mainstream media and the academic community. Although phase 3 trials are only just beginning, we feel that it is important for clinicians to consider what psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy might look like in the clinical setting. In this narrative review article we h...
Despite an increasing body of research highlighting their efficacy to treat a broad range of medical conditions, psychedelic drugs remain a controversial issue among the public and politicians, tainted by previous stigmatisation and perceptions of risk and danger. This narrative review examines the evidence for potential harms of the classic psychedelics by ...
Psilocybin-containing mushrooms have been consumed by various cultures in many different parts of the world for thousands of years. Psilocybin, a classic psychedelic, contains unique psychoactive properties and has been incorporated into religious ceremonies and investigated for its medicinal value. In the mid-20th century, psilocybin, along with most other ...
Current treatment options for major depressive disorder (MDD) have limited efficacy and are associated with adverse effects. Recent studies investigating the antidepressant effect of serotonergic psychedelics-also known as classic psychedelics-have promising preliminary results with large effect sizes. In this context, we conducted a review of the putative n...
Introduction Major depressive disorder is a highly prevalent clinical condition, affecting more than 300 million individuals worldwide. About 1/3 of patients with MDD fail to achieve remission despite treatment with multiple antidepressants and are considered to have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Novel antidepressants with rapid and sustained effects...
In this manuscript, I reflect on how Critical Indigenous theory offers white historians like myself powerful conceptual tools to combat the underlying, historically-rooted colonial assumptions prevalent in their work, specifically within the subfield of psychedelic history. Histories of compounds like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, ayahuasca, ...
