Diseases (Basel, Switzerland)
September 16, 2024
Zuzanna Antos, Klaudia Zackiewicz, Natalia Tomaszek et al.
9 citations
Anxiety disorders harm quality of life, and standard drugs like benzodiazepines and antidepressants cause side effects, prompting a search for gentler alternatives. This review examined evidence for physical activity, mindfulness, virtual reality, biofeedback, herbal remedies, transcranial magnetic stimulation, cryotherapy, hyperbaric therapy, vagus nerve stimulation, MDMA, electroconvulsive therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. From 116 studies, the authors assessed which methods can support standard treatment or stand alone, weighing risks and benefits. Alternative treatments broaden options for patients and clinicians, often as adjuncts. Among them, mindfulness shows the most significant therapeutic potential.
Neuropharmacology
March 7, 2025
Stefan Modzelewski, Anna Stankiewicz, Napoleon Waszkiewicz et al.
5 citations
A review of psychedelic research finds that studies vary widely in how they report side effects and often follow participants for only a short time. The authors call for future work to describe side effects more clearly and systematically. This limitation makes it difficult to fully understand the risks associated with substances like psilocybin and LSD.
Psychiatria
June 5, 2024
Anna Stankiewicz, Jan Szewczyk, Julia Truszkowska et al.
1 citation
Since 2019, research on psychedelics including LSD, MDMA, psilocybin, and THC, as well as less-studied substances like 5-MeO-DMT, dextromethorphan, DMT, ibogaine, ketamine, and mescaline, indicates therapeutic potential for treating addiction (nicotine, alcohol, and substance dependence), depression, anxiety (including anxiety in autism spectrum disorder), PTSD, and eating disorders. With appropriate protocols, these psychoactive agents may become part of comprehensive therapy for mental disorders.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
July 15, 2026
Rafał Marecki, Wiktoria Zaniewska, Adam Hamed et al.
Classic psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, mescaline, and DOI work primarily by activating 5-HT2A receptors, causing widespread brain and behavior changes relevant to psychiatric research. Evidence from rodent studies shows that these effects differ by sex across pharmacokinetics, physiology, neuroplasticity, behavior, and disease models. Females often show stronger or qualitatively distinct behavioral responses, including head twitch, locomotor activity, prepulse inhibition, stress reactivity, and social behavior, with ovarian cycle phase further modulating some effects. Disease model studies also find sex-dependent outcomes, such as psilocybin's effects on alcohol consumption and DMT microdosing on mood and neuroplasticity. The review concludes that sex is a critical biological variable shaping psychedelic effects in rodents, and integrating sex-specific analyses is essential for improving translational validity and guiding clinical applications.