Psychopharmacology
April 23, 2025
Nicholas C Borgogna, Tyler Owen, Dan Petrovitch et al.
8 citations
Psilocybin moderately reduces depression compared to controls, with a standardized mean difference of 0.62, but effects vary widely across studies and are weaker in larger, better-controlled trials. Most of the nine randomized controlled trials (602 participants, 56% receiving psilocybin) had high risk of bias and poor harm reporting; only two studies had high-quality harm reporting. Therapeutic mechanisms of action were discussed but rarely tested, leaving it unclear how psilocybin alleviates depression. Smaller studies showed stronger effects favoring psilocybin, and nearly all studies reported financial conflicts of interest. Independent, larger trials with active controls and mechanism assessments are needed.
Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry
November 11, 2025
Dan Petrovitch, Sarah E. Victor, A. Schmidt et al.
2 citations
The intense and distinctive subjective effects of psychedelics complicate tests of the efficacy and mechanisms of action of psychedelic-assisted treatments for mental-health conditions. Estimates of treatment efficacy are confounded under functional unblinding, and uncertainty surrounds whether subjective or neurobiological effects are causal mechanisms. Methodological solutions include improved active placebo conditions, expectancy-focused recruitment and consent procedures, better measurement of expectancies and blinding, and rigorous statistical modeling. Strategies to disentangle subjective and neurobiological effects include administering psychedelics under general anesthesia, developing non-psychoactive analogues, leveraging Mendelian randomization, and studying microdosing. Combining multiple innovative methods may offer the most robust insights.
Drug Science Policy and Law
March 1, 2025
Dan Petrovitch, Jason van Allen, Sean M. Mitchell et al.
1 citation
Psychedelic-naïve undergraduates generally hold similar views of psilocybin and LSD across clinical therapy, microdosing, and naturalistic contexts, making only limited distinctions. When differences did appear, participants viewed clinical use most positively, followed by microdosing, then naturalistic use. The findings suggest that young adults may benefit from education about the varying safety, efficacy, and legality of psychedelics across contexts, especially given their potential influence on drug policy.
medRxiv Preprint Server
May 5, 2026
Nicholas C. Borgogna, D. Drew Whittington, Tyler Owen et al.
preprint
MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) shows a moderate-to-large reduction in psychological symptoms compared to control conditions, based on a meta-analysis of eight controlled trials with 295 participants. The effect was larger against inert placebos than active controls. Trauma symptoms improved strongly, while depression showed a smaller, non-significant effect. Only 23% of publications met high-quality standards for reporting harms. Small samples and mediocre harm reporting underscore the need for larger, more transparent trials.
February 28, 2025
Dan Petrovitch, Samuel Hosford, Andrew K. Littlefield et al.
preprint
People seeking psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) currently access it through diverse and unregulated avenues, including ketamine clinics, psilocybin centers, clinical trials, and underground therapy. A survey of 244 self-identified PAT patients identified three distinct patterns of lifetime drug use: a High-PAT class (55.7% of the sample) who used many psychedelics, a Medium-PAT class (29.1%), and a Psilocybin-Ketamine class (15.2%) whose members universally used psilocybin and often ketamine. The High-PAT class reported higher levels of depression and anxiety, suggesting that extensive PAT involvement may be linked to more severe psychiatric symptoms, though whether this reflects selection or iatrogenic effects remains unclear. Psilocybin and ketamine may serve as common entry points into PAT.