Annales Médico-psychologiques revue psychiatrique
July 10, 2024
Federico Seragnoli, Gabriel Thorens, Louise Penzenstadler et al.
8 citations
A team at Geneva University Hospitals developed an interdisciplinary model for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) that combines the altered state of consciousness induced by LSD or psilocybin with traditional dialogue-based psychotherapy. Since 2014, Swiss law has allowed exceptional medical authorizations for these substances. From September 2020 to February 2024, the team received 224 personal authorizations (114 for LSD, 110 for psilocybin) and conducted 396 individual sessions. The protocol includes patient selection, preparatory psychoeducation, controlled substance administration, and integration sessions. The authors argue that psychedelic-induced consciousness alteration can act as a catalyst to revive stalled psychotherapeutic processes and call for continued research and broader clinical integration of PAP.
Frontiers in psychiatry
January 1, 2025
Alexandre Fraichot, Sophie Favre, Hélène Richard-Lepouriel
1 citation
A 37-year-old patient with treatment-resistant depression received intranasal Esketamine (84 mg) and used ChatGPT-4 to generate images and interpretations of his dissociative experiences, supported by a nurse. Depression severity was measured with the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). The patient achieved remission, with MADRS scores declining by 50% by the third session and indicating mild depression or euthymia in the eight subsequent sessions. The patient reported that the artificial intelligence-generated images and interpretations helped him create a timeline of his experiences. The case report suggests combining intranasal Esketamine with generative artificial intelligence may be effective, but further research is needed.
Molecular psychiatry
May 29, 2026
Mickael Eskinazi, Rayan Nasserdine, Romane M Cusin et al.
A systematic review of 23 studies examined whether serotonergic psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, DMT/ayahuasca) or MDMA can trigger manic or hypomanic symptoms. Rates of such symptoms ranged from 5.8% in controlled trials of psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression to 30% in naturalistic studies of people with bipolar disorder. When manic symptoms occurred, they were typically acute and self-limited. Higher risks were seen in individuals with bipolar I disorder, family vulnerability, polysubstance use, or unsupervised use. Registry data showed a 4% prevalence of later transition to bipolar disorder, with little evidence for a hallucinogen-specific signal. The authors conclude that these substances pose a low but clinically meaningful relative risk of transient mood symptoms in susceptible individuals while remaining relatively safe in controlled settings.