Abstract Psychedelic therapy has the potential to become a revolutionary and transdiagnostic mental health treatment, yielding enduring benefits that are often attributed to the experiences that coincide with peak psychedelic effects. However, there may be an underrecognized temporal structure to this process that helps explain why psychedelic and related al...
IntroductionPsilocybin is a classic psychedelics, which has been shown to have antidepressant effects by many studies in recent years. In this study, we aim to evaluate the efficacy, acceptability and tolerability of psilocybin in the treatment of primary (major depressive disorder) or secondary (experiencing distress related to life-threatening diagnoses an...
Despite significant advances in symptom management for patients affected by serious illness, physicians lack effective legal treatments for individuals suffering from demoralization, death anxiety, and existential distress. Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy employs psilocybin-containing mushrooms or synthetic psilocybin grounded in indigenous traditions and ...
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...
BackgroundGrowing clinical interest in psychedelic-assisted therapies has led to a second wave of research involving psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and other substances. Data suggests that these compounds have the potential to treat mental health conditions that are especially prevalent in older adults ...
Abstract Background: Psychological distress is a common reaction to a cancer diagnosis and its treatment. Distress impacts quality of life, adherence to treatment, decision making and survival. Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) experience exceptionally high rates of psychological distress, most commonly depression, anxiety and suicidality. Psilo...
ABSTRACT Background: Psychedelic substances are increasingly recognized for their therapeutic potential to ease psychological suffering linked to end-of-life issues. However, amid renewed scientific and public interest, policy remains restrictive. Existing reviews have made progress in synthesizing the results of studies of psychedelic interventions, especia...
Psychedelics are powerful psychoactive substances that alter perception and mood processes. Their effectiveness in the treatment of psychiatric diseases was known before their prohibition. An increasing number of recent studies, due to the indisputable resurgence of serotonergic hallucinogens, have shown their efficacy in alleviating depression, anxiety, sub...
Survivors of adverse childhood experience are at elevated risk for psychological distress. In recent years, renewed interest in psychedelic medicine has highlighted the therapeutic potential of psilocybin for those who have experienced childhood adversity. However, recreational psilocybin use remains illegal and access to approved therapies is difficult. Suc...
Clinical trials of psychedelics have provided support for their potential efficacy and safety. Although most combined a psychedelic with psychological support akin to psychotherapy, providing psychotherapy is costlier and more difficult to scale than providing only support to reduce harms. Trials with factorial designs can evaluate the individual effects of ...
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an aggressive, terminal neurodegenerative disease that causes death of motor neurons and has an average survival time of 3-4 years. ALS is the most common motor neuron degenerative disease and is increasing in prevalence. There is a pressing need for more effective ALS treatments as available pharmacotherapies do not re...
Context: Measuring therapeutic connection during psilocybin-assisted therapy is essential to understand underlying mechanisms, inform training, and guide quality improvement. Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of directly observing indicators of therapeutic connection during psilocybin administration encounters. Methods: We evaluated audio and video data f...
Introduction: The word “psychedelic” derives from the Greek language and can be loosely translated as “mind manifesting” which is to convey that these substances allow the mind to unleash its hidden potential. Psilocybin is considered to be a “classic psychedelic” and is most commonly found in the form of so-called “magic mushrooms”. Due to its unique proper...
ObjectivesPeople with terminal illnesses often experience psychological distress and associated disability. Recent clinical trial evidence has stimulated interest in the therapeutic use of psychedelics at end of life. Much uncertainty remains, however, mainly due to methodological difficulties that beset existing trials. We conducted a scoping review of pipe...
The purpose of the study is to understand the feasibility of a resilience focused community of practice program that includes psilocybin-assisted therapy for End-of-Life Distress. The community of practice refers to a research informed group therapy process that runs over a 10-week period of time and includes one group administered psilocybin-assisted therap...
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...
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a surge in depression cases, a pervasive and debilitating mental illness1. This trend is evident in the increased prescriptions for antidepressants. Depression is a chronic condition that affects a significant proportion of the global population, with ~280 million people, or about 3.8%, suffering from it. As a result, it...
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...
The psychedelic compound psilocybin has shown therapeutic benefit in the treatment of numerous psychiatric diseases. A recent randomized clinical trial conducted at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center demonstrated the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Similarly, a phase IIb study evaluating psilocyb...
