Discover Mental Health
April 15, 2022
150 citations
Ketamine and its enantiomer esketamine offer rapid antidepressant effects, often within one day, for treatment-resistant depression, with symptom improvement lasting three to seven days. Esketamine received FDA approval in 2019 as an adjunctive treatment for adults with treatment-resistant depression, administered under medical supervision due to a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy. Side effects such as dissociative symptoms, hypertension, and confusion or agitation are generally tolerable and limited to the time of treatment, though longer-term risks including abuse or dependence remain poorly understood. The drug has also been studied for suicidality, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and social anxiety disorder. Research on ketamine may also deepen understanding of mood disorder mechanisms and guide development of new treatments.
Discover Mental Health
May 28, 2024
Joshua G. Kovoor, Sanjana Santhosh, Brandon Stretton et al.
4 citations
Near-death experiences may occur in more than one-third of patients who survive cardiac arrest, according to a scoping review of 11 prospective studies from various countries. The incidence ranged from 6.3% to 39.3%, varying between in-hospital (6.3–39.3%) and out-of-hospital (18.9–21.2%) cardiac arrest. Reported content of these experiences often reflected the language of the questionnaires used rather than participants' own words. Three studies that conducted follow-up all suggested a positive life attitude change, but one found significantly higher 30-day all-cause mortality in patients with near-death experiences versus those without, in non-controlled analysis. Lasting effects may be confounded by clinical characteristics.
Discover Mental Health
November 16, 2025
Saranya Ts, Kiniholi Yepthomi
1 citation
Cultural narratives and communal belief systems in Nagaland strongly shape how distress is experienced, conceptualized, and addressed. Lycanthropy, often seen as a delusional disorder in Western psychiatry, is regarded by many communities as a spiritual affliction or culturally rooted manifestation of distress. Traditional healers and ritual practices continue to play a critical role in managing mental health concerns, even as modern psychiatric approaches gain visibility. The review emphasizes the importance of integrating indigenous perspectives with contemporary mental health care to foster more holistic approaches to mental well-being.
Discover Mental Health
March 21, 2026
Martha Newson, Leor Roseman, S. Alexander Haslam
Psychedelic-assisted therapies are effective for mental health conditions but are usually delivered individually, missing opportunities to build shared social identity among participants. Group-based interventions foster empathy, connectedness, and social functioning. Integrating 'social cure' principles from social identity theory could enhance therapeutic efficacy by promoting interconnectedness in supportive group settings. This article argues for combining these approaches, which have developed separately, to provide a theoretical foundation for group-based therapies and guide responsible implementation of socially informed psychedelic treatments, leading to a more comprehensive and socially embedded mental health care model.
Discover Mental Health
March 19, 2026
Àlvar Farré-colomés, Olga Rublinetska, Óscar Soto-Angona
This review gathers all available fMRI evidence from psilocybin studies. Twenty unique datasets were identified, five of which included participants diagnosed with depression. Dropout rates were high, and most studies lacked follow-up scanning timepoints. Research has concentrated on the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, and prefrontal cortex as key regions involved in psilocybin's effects. However, methods and designs across studies are inconsistent. More research is needed to clarify psilocybin's impact on the human brain and its potential to enhance psychotherapy outcomes.
Discover Mental Health
March 7, 2026
Nicholas Fabiano, Brendon Stubbs, David W. Lawrence et al.
More than half of people with major depressive disorder do not respond to standard treatments, prompting interest in alternatives such as exercise and psychedelics. This commentary examines how these two approaches might work together. Biologically, psychedelics briefly boost brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling, while exercise provides sustained BDNF elevation; psychedelics enhance neuroplasticity mainly in the cortex, whereas exercise promotes hippocampal neurogenesis; both increase serotonin release. Psychologically, psychedelics may help people adopt exercise habits, and exercise may improve emotional resilience, potentially deepening the psychedelic experience. The authors suggest that these complementary mechanisms warrant future research on their combined efficacy, tolerability, safety, and neurobiology.