International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
April 17, 2018
Carola Rong, Caroline Park, Joshua D. Rosenblat et al.
116 citations
Ketamine produces rapid antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant depression associated with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. Identifying which patients will benefit remains a priority. This review identifies multiple pretreatment predictors of response, including high body mass index, family history of alcohol use disorder, history of suicide, adiponectin and vitamin B12 levels, delta sleep ratio abnormalities, glutamine/glutamate ratio, anterior cingulate cortex activity, the Val66Met BDNF allele, and processing speed. High BMI and family history of alcohol use disorder were the most replicated predictors. A complete pheno-biotype of depression likely to benefit from ketamine is far from complete, though metabolic-inflammatory alterations, especially cognitive impairment, are emerging as possible predictors.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
April 12, 2021
Hao Chen, Chao Liu, Xinyi Cao et al.
55 citations
An eight-week loving-kindness meditation (LKM) training program improved empathy and communication skills among 106 doctors in a Chinese hospital, but did not significantly change their mindfulness levels. Doctors randomly assigned to LKM training showed greater gains in empathy and communication compared with a waiting-list control group. The findings suggest LKM may help enhance physician-patient interactions, though the reasons for the lack of effect on mindfulness require further study.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
October 28, 2019
Nathan Pearson, James H. Berry
44 citations
Evidence links cannabis use to psychotic outcomes ranging from mild to severe and from minutes to years. Because studies vary widely in exposures and measures, a coherent account is difficult. This review organizes the association using DSM-5 diagnoses: Cannabis Intoxication, Cannabis-Induced Psychotic Disorder, and Schizophrenia. Cannabis intoxication can progress to Cannabis-Induced Psychotic Disorder when severity and duration criteria are met, and that disorder is strongly associated with future schizophrenia diagnoses. The framework suggests a continuum of cannabis-related psychosis.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
August 2, 2021
Lisa Reynolds, Amelia Akroyd, Frederick Sundram et al.
33 citations
Cancer healthcare professionals—doctors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers—show openness to psychedelic-assisted therapy for advanced cancer patients, driven by a desire to alleviate suffering and a lack of effective current treatments. However, this openness is tempered by concerns about patient safety and the need for rigorous, well-designed trials. The study identified four themes: beneficence (alleviating suffering), non-maleficence (keeping vulnerable patients safe), viewing psychedelic-assisted therapy as a transformative approach with real potential, and recognizing that new frontiers carry risks. These findings offer a foundation for engaging healthcare professionals in future research and clinical applications.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
December 13, 2021
Yuzheng Wang, Lingqiu Liao, Xiaoxiao Lin et al.
30 citations
From 1900 to 2021, research on meditation—especially mindfulness meditation—grew from a single article in 1963 to 19,752 publications. The United States leads in collaboration, output, and citations. The journal Mindfulness published the most articles, and the most cited paper is Brown and Ryan's work on mindfulness and psychological well-being. Frequently studied topics include mindfulness, meditation, depression, intervention, stress reduction, stress, and anxiety. Before 2010, research focused on hypertension, cancer, and generalized anxiety disorder; after 2010, interest shifted to meta-analysis, attention, self-assessment, and mindfulness-based interventions. These results map the field's development and guide future research.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
January 19, 2023
Iga Stokłosa, Gniewko Więckiewicz, Maciej Stokłosa et al.
25 citations
No single effective drug for alcohol abuse has been identified, despite centuries of effort, due to the complexity of alcohol dependence. Psychotherapy remains the main treatment, with few FDA-approved medications—acamprosate, disulfiram, and naltrexone—and nalmefene approved by the EMA available to augment it. Recent reports suggest baclofen, topiramate, varenicline, and gabapentin may be useful. Clinical trials with psilocybin and MDMA show promise as breakthroughs, but much more research is needed before new pharmacological treatments become widely available.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
January 19, 2023
Koen Ponnet, Bert Hauspie, Nicky Dirkx et al.
21 citations
Attendees of electronic dance music events are a high-risk group for substance use. A survey of 1345 Belgian attendees found that ecstasy/MDMA/Molly (52.28%), other synthetic hallucinogens (53.68%), ketamine (42.13%), amphetamines (40.45%), and alkyl nitrites (32.76%) were most used at festivals, outdoor parties, and raves. Cocaine was prevalent in nightclubs (32.29%), while cannabis (68.88%) and magic mushrooms (66.44%) were most used at private events. Overall enjoyment was the key motive for attendance, followed by music and socialization. Users rated many motives (dance, exploration, escapism, excitement, alcohol, drugs) as more important than non-users. Substance use prevalence depended on the event setting, and a three-dimensional classification of attendance motives was supported.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
November 1, 2021
Andrea Poli, A. Gemignani, F. Soldani et al.
21 citations
Lower resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of vagal tone, is linked to PTSD and OCD, and contemplative practices may increase RSA by activating the ventral vagal complex, aiding recovery. A systematic review of six studies (one cross-sectional, one pre-post, two cohort, two randomized controlled trials) found that mindfulness-related interventions increased parasympathetic activity and vagal tone while improving PTSD and OCD symptoms. Under polyvagal theory, mindfulness and compassion meditations act as neural exercises that expand the ventral vagal complex's capacity to regulate present states and build resilience.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
September 9, 2022
Christin Mellner, Micael Dahlen, Otto Simonsson
18 citations
People who have ever used classic psychedelics (such as LSD or psilocybin) report slightly fewer sick days in the past month than those who have never used them, after accounting for demographics, risky behavior, and other substance use. The analysis of a large, nationally representative US sample (over 400,000 adults) found a small but statistically significant negative association. The authors caution that the finding is correlational and that more research is needed to determine whether psychedelics actually cause reduced sick leave and to understand possible mechanisms.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
September 17, 2022
Karin Matko, Peter Sedlmeier, Holger C. Bringmann
17 citations
All four 8-week treatments—mantra meditation alone, meditation plus physical yoga, meditation plus ethical education, and all three combined—similarly improved body awareness, emotion regulation, self-compassion, and distress tolerance in adults new to yoga and meditation. These benefits persisted at 2- and 12-month follow-ups despite declining home practice. Mantra meditation alone had the least favorable effect on daily affect, while adding physical yoga best prevented negative affective responses. The findings suggest that mantra meditation is the central component driving improvements in interoception, self-awareness, and embodied processing, even though it negatively influenced affect on its own.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
April 14, 2023
Anum Sarfraz, Salma Siddiqui, Julieta Galante et al.
14 citations
A pilot randomized controlled trial tested the feasibility of an online Mindfulness Training Course (MTC) adapted for Pakistani university students. 156 students were randomly assigned to MTC or a wait-list control; 102 completed surveys, and 18 MTC participants were interviewed. The MTC group showed higher mindfulness and psychological wellbeing and lower stress compared to controls. Attrition was high, but completers gave positive feedback. The study suggests a larger trial is feasible with revised recruitment to reduce dropout.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
July 21, 2023
Guido Huisman, Maximilian Menke, Oliver Grundmann et al.
13 citations
Kratom, a Southeast Asian plant containing alkaloids that affect humans, is sold online in strains marketed as having distinct effects. A survey of 644 current kratom users compared self-reported effects of red, green, and white strains. Respondents reported distinct subjective experiences matching marketing claims, but independent laboratory analysis of the products found no significant differences in alkaloid content across strains. This suggests marketing narratives and anecdotal reports may disproportionately influence perceived effects. Future work should include more diverse populations and vendors, and blinded experiments could determine whether reported differences stem from placebo or other factors like minor alkaloids or terpenes.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
July 1, 2022
Elin Pöllänen, Walter Osika, Otto Simonsson et al.
12 citations
People who have used classic psychedelics tend to report less speciesism and more solidarity with animals, though no link was found with their desire to help animals. Among those who used psychedelics, stronger ego dissolution during their most intense experience was associated with less speciesism, more animal solidarity, and a greater desire to help animals. These associations come from a large US-representative sample of 2,822 adults. The authors caution that the findings do not demonstrate causality and call for longitudinal studies to explore whether psychedelic use directly influences human–animal relations.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
May 29, 2022
Ahmed Al-Imam, Marek A Motyka, Zuzanna Witulska et al.
7 citations
Psychedelics induce altered consciousness via the 5-HT2A receptor. Online searches in Poland for twenty psychedelics from 2017 to 2022 were analyzed using Google Trends data. Holt–Winters exponential smoothing revealed that twelve (60%) of the substances had significant seasonal patterns: psilocybin and ayahuasca showed annual seasonality, four substances (LSD, AL-LAD, DXM, DOB) had half-yearly seasonality, and six (cannabis, dronabinol, ergine, NBOMe, phencyclidine, salvinorin A) followed a quarterly pattern. The pandemic led to a significant positive change in search trends for psilocybin, ergine, and DXM. These spatiotemporal patterns may aid health authorities in monitoring and preventing addictions.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
October 1, 2021
S. Amigó
3 citations
A brief psychological intervention called Self-Regulation Therapy (SRT), which uses suggestion and classical conditioning to reproduce the positive effects of illegal drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, and ecstasy, improved coping with stress and emotionality in young adults. Fifteen volunteers (8 males, 7 females, average age 24.6) completed pre- and post-intervention assessments over 10 days and a 4-week follow-up. SRT outperformed no intervention across four coping strategies and both positive and negative emotionality, with improvements maintained at follow-up. The findings suggest that reproducing the positive effects of illegal drugs via SRT can enhance coping and emotional regulation.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
February 17, 2026
Carla J. Berg, Cassidy R. Loparco, Darcey M. Mccready et al.
1 citation
Among 3,227 US adults aged 18–34 surveyed in 2025, past-6-month cannabis use was reported by 40.5% and past-year psychedelic use by 11.9%. Psychedelics had less legalization support, less promotional and risk-message exposure, and lower social acceptability than cannabis, while being perceived as more addictive and harmful. Factors linked to both cannabis and psychedelic use included lower perceived addictiveness and harm, higher social acceptability, more adverse childhood experiences, more promotional and risk-message exposure, and higher scores on a mental health questionnaire. Greater legalization support for both substances was associated with lower perceived addictiveness and harm, higher social acceptability, and more promotional-message exposure. Message exposure may be especially important in shaping psychedelic use and legalization support.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
May 29, 2026
Simin Kazemi, Julia Torquati, Tuyen Huynh
Connection to nature is linked to psychological wellbeing, and two studies tested whether mindfulness or spirituality explain this link. In Study 1 (219 young adults), mindful attention reduced anxiety and perceived stress, and mindful awareness reduced depression and increased positive states of mind; spirituality did not mediate these effects. In Study 2 (180 young adults), spirituality (self-transcendence) mediated wellbeing outcomes except anxiety, while none of the five facets of mindfulness were significant mediators. The roles of mindfulness and spirituality depend on how they are conceptualized and measured, indicating a need for conceptual clarity in future research.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
December 8, 2022
Amer Raheemullah, Ori-Michael Benhamou, Jamie Kuo et al.
Microdosing buprenorphine to transition patients from full-agonist opioids avoids the withdrawal and pain that typically require 12 or more hours of opioid abstinence. Evidence shows this cross-taper strategy is safe and effective, and it is already used across the United States. The authors argue that national prescribing guidelines and buprenorphine training should recognize this approach, and that the FDA should approve transdermal buprenorphine for opioid use disorder while manufacturers produce lower-dose sublingual formulations. They conclude that buprenorphine microdosing cross-tapers should become the new standard of care.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
June 1, 2019
C. Heeter, Marcel M. Allbritton, Chase Bossart
Self-reports from meditation participants reveal how three distinct Viniyoga meditations, each using a different aspect of the ocean as a meditation object, can contribute to health and well-being. Yoga philosophy and anatomy models help explain participants' experiences and benefits. Four personal factors influence meditation outcomes: current life circumstances, the state of one's mind-body-breath system, reactions to meditation instructions, and prior experience with the meditation object. The authors, grounded in Viniyoga and yoga therapy, discuss why and for whom each meditation may be beneficial.