Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
December 13, 2024
Rosana Freitas, Efstathia Stephanie Gotsis, Alexander T. Gallo et al.
14 citations
A systematic review of 24 clinical trials on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for clinical populations found that physical and psychological adverse events during and after sessions varied in how they were measured and reported. The most common adverse events included elevated blood pressure, headaches, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and anxiety. Suicidal ideation and behavior occurred infrequently and mainly in participants with a prior history of suicidality. No deaths were attributed to psilocybin. The review calls for standardized definitions and reporting of adverse events in psychedelic trials and emphasizes the importance of screening for suicidality history. Overall, the safety profile is generally supported, but cautious optimism is warranted given the preliminary and heterogeneous data.
medRxiv
May 29, 2025
Paul B. Fitzgerald, Sara Webb, Nigel Christopher Denning et al.
2 citations
preprint
A single dose of psilocybin, but not MDMA, produced short-term psychological changes in healthy adults: reduced neuroticism, increased extraversion, and improvements in mindfulness and connectedness one week after dosing. Psilocybin also induced stronger mystical experiences than MDMA, and the magnitude of those experiences correlated with changes in connectedness and mindfulness, though not with personality changes. Participants preferred larger group settings for MDMA than for psilocybin. The findings suggest that psilocybin's psychological effects may be mediated by mystical-type experiences.
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
December 17, 2025
Megan Dutton, Paul Schwenn, Jules Mitchell et al.
1 citation
Australia reclassified psilocybin as a Schedule 8 substance for treatment-resistant depression, a major policy shift. Implementation faces challenges: limited prescriber access, no Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods-listed products, lack of standardized training, and high costs. Ethical issues include informed consent, cultural safety, and therapeutic fidelity in trauma-informed care. Recommendations include national training accreditation, fidelity monitoring, and research into neurobiologically informed stratification models for treatment. These steps aim to ensure safe, equitable, and evidence-based integration of psilocybin-assisted therapy into Australia's mental health system.