During the last two decades, psychedelic-assisted therapy has emerged as one of the most promising novel treatments for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use disorders. These medicines have also been used in sacred, ritual settings for, in some cases, centuries. Often referred to as entheogens (meaning “creating the divine within”), psychedelic plant ...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & ResearchFull AccessPsychedelic Therapy Hits Another Milestone, But Caution UrgedNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:22 Jul 2021https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2021.7.14AbstractPositive findings from a phase 3 trial may have brought MDMA-assisted the...
The primary objective of this qualitative study was to explore the therapeutic trajectories of individuals undergoing psilocybin-assisted group therapy. This interpretive phenomenological analysis focused on an enriched study sample of gay-identified cisgender men ( n = 9) with human immunodeficiency virus diagnosed before 1996 and clinically significant tra...
Sexual trauma is a life-altering violation with persistent, long term implications for survivors. Trauma can produce distinctive impacts on individuals, and therapeutic approaches that offer healing to some, may not be effective for others, particularly when the memories of trauma are implicit and are not easily treated through evidence-based therapeutic met...
This review examines the role of trauma in psychiatric morbidity and analogous psychoneurobiological changes. Trauma is a necessary criterion for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), however, trauma history is highly correlated with a variety of psychiatric conditions. Some evidence suggests that Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is the most common psychiatr...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ViewpointsFull AccessThe Return of Psychedelics: Still Time to Prevent TragedyStanley N. Caroff, M.D.Stanley N. Caroff, M.D.Published Online:31 Mar 2021https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2021.4.8AbstractRecently, a movement reviving psychedelic drugs has emerged among physicians, echoed by activists like M...
Research exploring the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies to treat a range of mental illnesses is flourishing, after the problematic sociopolitical history of psychedelics led to the shutdown of clinical research for almost 40 years. Encouraged by positive results, clinicians and patients are now hopeful that further interruptions to research will b...
This study examined how psychedelics reduced symptoms of racial trauma among black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) subsequent to an experience of racism. A cross-sectional internet-based survey included questions about experiences with racism, mental health symptoms, and acute and enduring psychedelic effects. Changes in mental health were assessed ...
ObjectiveThe authors provide an evidenced-based summary of the literature on the clinical application of psychedelic drugs in psychiatric disorders.MethodsSearches of PubMed and PsycINFO via Ovid were conducted for articles in English, in peer-reviewed journals, reporting on "psilocybin," "lysergic acid diethylamide," "LSD," "ayahuasca," "3,4-methylenedioxym...
For years, the promise of psychedelics in therapeutic settings has been deterred by their general illegality. However, present day research shows promise in treating varying mental disorders. Amongst these disorders is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the organization, PTSD United, PTSD presently effects about eight percent of Americans. M...
Mental disorders are rising while development of novel psychiatric medications is declining. This stall in innovation has also been linked with intense debates on the current diagnostics and explanations for mental disorders, together constituting a paradigmatic crisis. A radical innovation is psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP): professionally supervis...
A growing body of evidence shows that existential and spiritual well-being in cancer patients is associated with better medical outcomes, improved quality of life, and serves as a buffer against depression, hopelessness, and desire for hastened death. Historical and recent research suggests a role for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in treating cancer-rela...
in this time of ever ascendant materialism, greed, and pathological narcissism, when the delusion of the disconnected dominant individual grows stronger, the contrary life-affirming stream of connection and respect is gaining strength even as it is suppressed, vilified, and criminalized. This stream, which we can call ‘awakening consciousness,’ is the motor ...
Given the plethora of new studies and published papers in the scientific press and the increasingly emerging presence of articles about positive psychedelic experiences appearing in the popular media, there is little doubt that we are in the midst of a Psychedelic Renaissance. The classical psychedelic drugs LSD and psilocybin and the entactogen MDMA are sho...
Recent randomized controlled trials of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for patients with cancer suggest that this treatment results in large-magnitude reductions in anxiety and depression as well as improvements in attitudes toward disease progression and death, quality of life, and spirituality. To better understand these findings, we sought to identify p...
Earlier this year I joined some friends at a performance by the New York Philharmonic of Verdi’s Requiem Mass. Not one of us was Catholic or professed any creed threatening an afterlife of eternal suffering for the wicked. No perpetual willies over Judgment Day. Nevertheless, when the massed voices of chorus and orchestra unleashed their frenzy in the climac...
