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Journal of Eating Disorders

4 papers in the library · 17 citations · publishing 2024-2026

Papers

Therapeutic emergence of dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa

Journal of Eating Disorders May 26, 2025 Julie Trim, Samantha Shao, Nadav Liam Modlin et al. 14 citations

Psychedelic therapy (PT) may be beneficial for treating eating disorders and trauma-related conditions such as PTSD and dissociative amnesia. The abstract reviews how psilocybin could help patients remember and process traumatic memories, suggesting a mechanism for its therapeutic effects.

Exploring the neurobiological correlates of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in eating disorders: a review of potential methodologies and implications for the psychedelic study design

Journal of Eating Disorders December 27, 2024 Elena Koning, Cristiano Chaves, Elisa Brietzke et al. 2 citations

Eating disorders affect 1-3% of the population, and standard treatments fail for about one third of cases. Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy shows emerging evidence for improving outcomes, but limited knowledge of its neurobiological mechanisms restricts confirmation of clinical utility. This narrative review surveys methodologies—including magnetic resonance imaging, molecular neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and neuroplasticity markers—that could probe the neurobiological correlates of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in eating disorders. It describes implications of these methods for psychedelic study design, challenges, limitations, and future directions, serving as a resource for scientists designing studies to identify effective therapeutic interventions.

Questioning the recovery of dissociated traumatic memories under psilocybin: comment on “Therapeutic emergence of dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa”

Journal of Eating Disorders December 4, 2025 Samuli Kangaslampi, Max Wolff, Manoj K. Doss et al. 1 citation

Psychedelics like psilocybin can trigger vivid memory-like experiences, but a recent case report claiming that two patients recovered dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa may not have adequately considered alternative explanations. The cases do not necessarily show that psilocybin induces recovery of dissociated traumatic memories or could treat dissociative amnesia. The authors also caution against explicitly preparing patients for the emergence of forgotten material, as such suggestions warrant scrutiny.

Rebuttal to “Questioning the recovery of dissociated traumatic memories under psilocybin”

Journal of Eating Disorders February 17, 2026 Stephanie Knatz Peck, Timothy D. Brewerton

Spontaneously recovered, previously forgotten traumatic memories of sexual assaults emerged in two research participants during psilocybin treatment. The authors defend their classification of these experiences as dissociated traumatic memories against criticisms that they lacked corroborating evidence and failed to consider alternative explanations. They further discuss potential therapeutic effects linked to how such experiences are labeled.