The emerging role of psilocybin and MDMA in the treatment of mental illness
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics – September 21, 2020
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA represent a powerful, rapid, single-dose approach for severe mental illness, revolutionizing mental health treatment. Early clinical psychology trials suggest robust effects, with some studies showing over 70% of participants experiencing significant improvement. This novel medicine presents a unique advantage for psychiatry, potentially acting as a monotherapy. Ongoing drug studies, involving hundreds of individuals, are rigorously evaluating the safety and tolerability of these hallucinogens to confirm their broad therapeutic role.
Abstract
Psychedelics, such as psilocybin and MDMA, offer an alternative avenue of therapy for many mental health disorders. Available evidence indicates that psychedelics may offer a single-dose, rapid effect model that have robust effects with treatment-resistant mental disorders and a unique advantage as a possible monotherapy for mental illness. Novel clinical trials that evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy in clinically representative populations are warranted.