J Psychiatr Res
March 14, 2025
Aron Amaev, Jianmeng Song, Yasaman Kambari et al.
8 citations
Psychedelic-assisted therapy produces sustained reductions in death anxiety and state and trait anxiety among people facing life-threatening illness. A meta-analysis of five randomized controlled trials found that serotonergic psychedelic therapy, which acts more rapidly than antidepressants, decreased both the fear of death and the transient and chronic anxiety that accompany serious disease. The analysis used the State Trait Anxiety Inventory to measure anxiety in the context of life-threatening illness. These results highlight psychedelic therapy as a promising alternative to limited existing treatments such as psychotherapy and antidepressant drugs. Future research should test whether these benefits extend to illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorders.
CMAJ
March 2, 2025
Daniel T. Myran, Jennifer Xiao, Nicholas Fabiano et al.
8 citations
People who had an emergency department visit or hospital admission involving hallucinogen use in Ontario, Canada, between 2006 and 2022 had a 2.6-fold higher risk of death from any cause within five years compared with the general population. Among 7953 individuals with such acute care, 6.1% died within five years versus 0.6% in the matched general population. Elevated risks were also seen for death from unintentional drug poisoning, suicide, respiratory disease, and cancer. These associations persisted even after excluding people with other mental or substance use disorders.
Pharmacology research & perspectives
April 1, 2026
Jordana Kazdan, Karim S. Ladha, M. Ishrat Husain
Major Depressive Disorder and chronic pain often co-occur, worsening symptoms and prognosis, yet treatments typically address each condition separately. Serotonergic psychedelics like psilocybin, DMT, and LSD show promise for both depression and pain. This narrative review examines mechanisms—including 5-HT2A receptor modulation, anti-inflammatory effects, neuroplasticity, altered brain network dynamics, and psychological influences—that could target both conditions simultaneously. The authors argue that existing evidence supports psychedelics as a unified therapeutic approach for comorbid MDD and chronic pain, providing a rationale for future clinical trials.
Neuropsychopharmacology
April 16, 2024
Brett D. M. Jones, M. Ishrat Husain
The abstract indicates that the neural effects of psychedelics are primarily characterized by increased complexity in brain activity. This suggests that psychedelics alter brain dynamics by promoting more diverse and flexible patterns of neural connectivity, which may underlie their therapeutic potential and ability to induce altered states of consciousness. The focus is on complexity as a key concept for understanding how these substances affect the brain.