The turn of the century brought a resurgence of interest in psychedelics as a treatment for addiction and other psychiatric conditions, accompanied by extensive positive media attention and private equity investment. Government regulatory bodies in Australia, Israel, Canada and the United States now permit use of psychedelics for medical purposes. In the Uni...
Psilocybin fungi, also more informally known as psychedelic mushrooms, have a rich, cultural history and were criminalized in the 1970s. However, recent developments, including Food and Drug Administration breakthrough status and state-level legalization, revive interest in these substances. They may be able to treat many disorders without the addictiveness ...
Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is distinct from yet related to non-pathologic grief, depression, addiction, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with a prevalence of up to 10% in bereaved populations. Hallmarks of PGD include functional impairment a year or more post-bereavement and intense yearning for the deceased. Current treatments for PGD are typic...
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin are used as recreational drugs, and there is renewed interest in their clinical use. The current study aimed to (1) determine the circumstances of death and case characteristics of LSD- and psilocybin-related death in Australia, 2000-23; and (2) determine the toxicological profile and major...
Entheogens, a class of psychoactive substances with profound cultural and religious significance, have been utilized for centuries across diverse traditions for healing, spiritual exploration, and communication with the divine. Their historical usage spans continents, from the pre-Columbian Americas to traditional African practices and Ayurvedic medicine in ...
Background. Psychedelic drug policy is beginning to change, both in the U.S. and internationally. However, psychedelic use is not homogeneous, as there are multiple unique contexts for use, including clinical therapies, naturalistic use, and microdosing. There are notable differences between these contexts regarding emerging evidence for therapeutic efficacy...
We aim to systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness and safety of psychedelics [psilocybin, ayahuasca (active component DMT), LSD and MDMA] in treating symptoms of various mental disorders. Web of Science, Embase, EBSCO, and PubMed were searched up to February 2024 and 126 articles were finally included. Results showed that psilocybin has the ...
Natural psychedelics such as magic mushrooms have a long history of human use of at least 7000 years. Their use underwent a resurgence in the 1950/1960s following the synthesis of LSD as a psychedelic and its use as a medicine with powerful therapeutic benefits. But because non-medical use led to massive cultural changes especially in young people, all psych...
The use of psychoactive substances for ritual, spiritual and medicinal purposes stretches back into prehistory and has been a common feature of many diverse cultures and societies globally. Psychedelics, with their unique ability to amplify feelings of connectedness and openness, may have also served as tools for promoting tribal cohesion and trust in ancien...
When Oregon's first psilocybin service center opened in June 2023, allowing those over 21 to take mind-altering mushrooms in a state-licensed facility, the psychedelic revival that had been unfolding over the past two decades entered an important new phase.Psilocybin is still illegal on the federal level. But now, as researchers explore the therapeutic poten...
Abstract The mechanisms by which Psilocybin Therapy (PT) improves depression remain an important object of study, with scientists actively exploring acute psychological experiences and neurobiological processes as candidates. In a phase 2, double-blind, randomized, active comparator controlled trial involving patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive...
Abstract Current treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) show large heterogeneity in response and thus limited effectiveness and high relapse rates. A precision medicine approach with biomarkers responsive to new treatments is warranted to overcome this limitation. Promising biomarkers relate to prefrontal control mechanisms that are severely disturbed in ...
This pilot study investigated psilocybin-induced changes in neural reactivity to alcohol and emotional cues in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Participants were recruited from a phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial investigating psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) for the treatment of AUD (NCT02061293). Eleven adult p...
: Psychedelics are currently being examined once more as potential remedies for untreatable biological illnesses after decades of research problems. They are frequently regarded to be physically safe and do not frequently lead to dependency or addiction. The use of psychedelic substances in the treatment of mental illness and the adoption of the Substance Ac...
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 ...
Recent clinical breakthroughs hold great promise for the application of psilocybin in the treatments of psychological disorders, such as depression, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psilocybin is a psychedelic whose metabolite, psilocin, is a 5-HT2A receptor agonist. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms for the effects of psilocybin on the br...
Background: A significant number of individuals with alcohol use disorder remain unresponsive to currently available treatments, which calls for the development of new alternatives. In parallel, psilocybin-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder has recently yielded promising preliminary results. Building on extant findings, the proposed study is set to ev...
A “UK first” trial will investigate whether psilocybin - the active ingredient in ‘magic mushrooms’ - can help prevent relapse in people recovering from opioid addiction. The psilocybin study, led by researchers at Imperial College London, will involve 28 participants who have recently undergone detoxification from ‘street’ opioids. Participants will receive...
HISTORY In the early part of twentieth century, these molecules were known as psychotomimetics, meaning that they create a state similar to psychosis. Later on, they were also termed as hallucinogens, but psychedelics usually do not cause hallucinations at a therapeutic dose. The name psychedelics for these substances was first given by Osmond in 1957, meani...
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) share overlapping neurobiological mechanisms particularly reward deficiency and stress-like anti-reward processes. And so, BPD may be reclassified as a "traumatic personality stress disorder" (TPSD) with ensuing common therapeutic strategies that may stabilize dopaminergic reward...
