Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
March 21, 2021
Daniel Perkins, Jerome Sarris, Susan L. Rossell et al.
53 citations
Psychedelic substances such as psilocybin, ayahuasca, LSD, and MDMA are gaining renewed medical interest due to the need for new psychiatric treatments and promising study results. This viewpoint reflects on the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists' Clinical Memorandum on Psychedelics and notes regulatory developments, including applications for down-scheduling and access approvals. The authors argue that rigorous research is needed to assess benefits, safety, and therapeutic mechanisms. They summarize recent findings on mechanisms of action and the psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy model, suggesting medicinal psychedelics could become a new class of psychiatric treatments when used under medical supervision with psychotherapeutic support. However, sufficiently powered trials and safety protocols are required before clinical use, and untrained practitioner access could be harmful.
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
March 12, 2022
Steve Kisely, Mark Connor, Andrew A. Somogyi et al.
36 citations
A systematic review of randomized controlled trials found that MDMA and psilocybin, given with psychological support, may reduce symptoms in highly selected populations under close supervision. The strongest evidence was for MDMA in post-traumatic stress disorder, with a large effect compared to active controls (standardized mean difference = -0.86). Psilocybin showed small benefits for social anxiety in adults with autism and was as effective as escitalopram for long-standing depression on the primary outcome, though most secondary benefits were not significant after correction. Both drugs were well tolerated, but overall certainty of evidence was low or very low.
scientific journals
March 31, 2026
Chantal Miller-Silva, Benjamin Jg Illingworth, Kirsten Martey et al.
preprint
The predictive processing theory of psychosis suggests that symptoms result from an imbalance in how predictions (priors) and sensory evidence are weighted. However, studies testing this theory often yield conflicting results. This review highlights a key problem: findings from single tasks with small sample sizes are frequently used to support a generalized claim that people with psychosis have an altered reliance on priors. The authors caution against overinterpreting such limited evidence.