Psychiatric illnesses - such as major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, substance use disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - are widely prevalent and represent a substantial health burden worldwide. Yet, conventional medications for mental illnesses often fail to provide relief to patients' disruptive and disabling symptoms. Existing and e...
ObjectivesDifferent psychoactive substances are widely used in today's society. So far limited data are available on the use of psychedelics in the general population. The main aim of this study is to estimate the numbers of users of substances with psychedelic properties (classical psychedelics, cannabis, ecstasy, and ketamine) in the Czech Republic.Methods...
Although early therapeutic research on psychedelics dates back to the 1940s, this field of investigation was met with many cultural and legal challenges in the 1970s. Over the past two decades, clinical trials using psychedelics have resumed. Therefore, the goal of this study was to (1) better characterize the recent uptrend in psychedelics in clinical trial...
Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) is characterized by visual disturbances that resemble psychedelic intoxication and linger after use has ceased. The most common substances precipitating HPPD, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin, are posited to do so via damage to serotonergic neurons involved in vision. Mr. N is a 37-year-old wi...
Psychedelics, also known as classical hallucinogens, affect processes related to perception, cognition and sensory processing mostly via the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2AR). This class of psychoactive substances, which includes lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, mescaline and the substituted amphetamine 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopr...
Background and aimsThere is growing evidence that psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic substance, may be useful in the treatment of substance use disorders. However, there is a lack of data on the beliefs and attitudes towards psilocybin amongst Black individuals diagnosed with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). This study characterized psilocybin use patterns and...
AbstractThe involvement of certain recreational drugs, namely, hallucinogens, in the development of hyperactive syndromes is well known, but not well studied. In this report, we expand on this relationship by documenting the development of substance-induced psychosis in a young patient who used a large amount of psilocybin and developed symptoms of a first p...
The mystical experience is a potential psychological mechanism to influence outcome in psychedelic therapy. It includes features such as oceanic boundlessness, ego dissolution, and universal interconnectedness, which have been closely linked to both symptom reduction and improved quality of life. In this review, 12 studies of psychedelic therapy utilizing ps...
Existing pharmacological treatments for psychiatric disorders have demonstrated limited efficacy, delayed onset of action, and significant burden of side effects. Recent findings from human studies with psychedelics have shown promise, demonstrating rapid and sustained clinical benefits of these compounds for a variety of psychiatric disorders. Classical psy...
Psychedelics are increasingly being recognized for their potential to treat a wide range of brain disorders including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance use disorder. Their broad therapeutic potential might result from an ability to rescue cortical atrophy common to many neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases by impacti...
Classical psychedelics represent a family of psychoactive substances with structural similarities to serotonin and affinity for serotonin receptors. A growing number of studies have found that psychedelics can be effective in treating various psychiatric conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety, and substance u...
Psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin (magic mushrooms), and mescaline exhibit intense effects on the human brain and behaviour. In recent years, there has been a surge in studies investigating these drugs because clinical studies have shown that these once banned drugs are well tolerated and efficacious in medically supervised lo...
International drug policy is rapidly evolving in tandem with promising evidence for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) in treating a range of mental health conditions. Canada is among the countries increasingly expanding access to psychedelic substances for therapeutic purposes. The 8-year ban on medical exemptions through the Canadian Special Access P...
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a major source of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. and there is a pressing need to identify additional treatments for the disorder. Classic psychedelics (psilocybin, peyote, mescaline, LSD) have been linked to the alleviation of various substance use disorders and may hold promise as potential treatments for OUD. The aim of th...
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...
Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD) is a significant public health problem associated with elevated morbidity and mortality within the United States. Current behavioral treatments have limited efficacy and there are currently no FDA approved pharmacological treatments for CUD. Classic psychedelics might be associated with lowered odds of substance misuse and may effe...
Psychedelics extracted from plants have been used in religious, spiritual, and mystic practices for millennia. In 1957, Dr. Hofmann identified and synthesized the prodrug psilocybin, a substance present in more than 200 species of psychedelic mushrooms. Although there were limitations related to the scientific design of many studies, clinical observations pe...
Psilocybin (a serotonin 2A, or 5-HT2A, receptor agonist) has shown preliminary efficacy as a treatment for mood and substance use disorders. The current report utilized positron emission tomography (PET) with the selective 5-HT2A receptor inverse agonist radioligand [11C]MDL100,907 (a.k.a. M100,907) and cortical regions of interest (ROIs) derived from restin...
Rationale and objectivesDifferences among psychedelic substances regarding their subjective experiences are clinically and scientifically interesting. Quantitative linguistic analysis is a powerful tool to examine such differences. This study compared five psychedelic substance report groups and a non-psychedelic report group on quantitative linguistic marke...
