BJPsych Bulletin
June 26, 2023
Anya Borissova, James J. Rucker
16 citations
Psilocybin, a classic psychedelic drug, has gained research interest as a possible treatment for mood and anxiety conditions. Initial phase 2 trials of psilocybin with psychological support for major depression and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) showed basic safety, confirmed by a large healthy-volunteer study. The first international multi-centre randomized controlled trial in 2022 found signs of efficacy for a 25 mg dose in people with TRD compared to an active placebo. Phase 3 trials in TRD are scheduled for 2023. Early evidence suggests single doses with psychological support induce rapid improvement in depressive symptoms lasting weeks.
BJPsych Bulletin
May 29, 2023
James Rucker
9 citations
Psilocybin therapy, which combines drug dosing with psychological support and integration, has been studied for 25 years. Early clinical trials show promise for treatment-resistant depression, but masking (blinding) likely fails, and expectancy effects may contribute to the therapeutic mechanism. Distinguishing drug effects from expectancy is necessary yet difficult when masking fails. Masking and expectancy have not been routinely measured in psilocybin or other medication trials; doing so could improve research and influence psychiatry. This opinion piece reviews the development, hope, hype, challenges, and opportunities of psilocybin therapy.
BJPsych Bulletin
May 4, 2026
Nicholas Griffin, Alexander Smith, Michael Liebrenz
Thomas De Quincey's 1821 autobiographical work, 'Confessions of an English Opium-Eater,' offers a subjective and objective account of his opium use and dependence, recorded before psychiatry was established. His self-analysis foreshadows psychoanalytic methods and psychopharmacology. The text raises questions for medical humanities about the patient's voice, therapeutic creativity, and literature as a record of lived experience, underscoring literature's relevance for psychiatric practitioners.
BJPsych Bulletin
January 27, 2025
Claudia Calciu, Rob Macpherson, Kerry Rees et al.
Dissociative experiences—compartmentalisation, detachment, and absorption—do not predict stages of recovery from psychosis. A cross-sectional study of 75 individuals with psychosis from recovery services in Gloucestershire used five questionnaires, including the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Stages of Recovery Instrument. The results indicate no simple relationship between dissociative and psychotic symptoms, suggesting that clinicians should assess these symptoms separately and may need special treatment approaches when dissociative symptoms play a significant role.