Kelmendi, B., Corlett, P., Ranganathan, M., D’Souza, C., & Krystal, J. H. (2016). The role of psychedelics in palliative care reconsidered: A case for psilocybin. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 30(12), 1212. 10.1177/0269881116675781
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Shelton, R. C., & Hendricks, P. S. (2016). Psilocybin and palliative end-of-life care. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(12), 1207-1208. 10.1177/0269881116675764
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Summergrad, P. (2016). Psilocybin in end of life care: Implications for further research. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(12), 1203-1204. 10.1177/0269881116675758
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Goodwin, G. M. (2016). Psilocybin: Psychotherapy or drug?. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(12), 1201-1202. 10.1177/0269881116675757
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Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin may decrease depression and anxiety in cancer patients. The effects of psilocybin were studied in 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. This randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial investigated the effects of a very low (placebo-like) dose (1 or 3 mg/70 kg) vs. a high dose (22 or 30 mg/70 kg) of psilocybin administered in counterbalanced sequence with 5 weeks between sessions and a 6-month follow-up. Instructions to participants and staff minimized expectancy effects. Participants, staff, and community observers rated participant moods, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the study. High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety. Participants attributed improvements in attitudes about life/self, mood, relationships, and spirituality to the high-dose experience, with >80% endorsing moderately or greater increased well-being/life satisfaction. Community observer ratings showed corresponding changes. Mystical-type psilocybin experience on session day mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on therapeutic outcomes.
Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Carducci, M. A., Umbricht, A., Richards, W. A., Richards, B. D., … & Klinedinst, M. A. (2016). Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(12), 1181-1197. 10.1177/0269881116675513
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Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin may decrease depression and anxiety in cancer patients. The effects of psilocybin were studied in 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. This randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial investigated the effects of a very low (placebo-like) dose (1 or 3 mg/70 kg) vs. a high dose (22 or 30 mg/70 kg) of psilocybin administered in counterbalanced sequence with 5 weeks between sessions and a 6-month follow-up. Instructions to participants and staff minimized expectancy effects. Participants, staff, and community observers rated participant moods, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the study. High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety. Participants attributed improvements in attitudes about life/self, mood, relationships, and spirituality to the high-dose experience, with >80% endorsing moderately or greater increased well-being/life satisfaction. Community observer ratings showed corresponding changes. Mystical-type psilocybin experience on session day mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on therapeutic outcomes.
Ross, S., Bossis, A., Guss, J., Agin-Liebes, G., Malone, T., Cohen, B., … & Su, Z. (2016). Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(12), 1165-1180. 10.1177/0269881116675513
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Nutt, D. (2016). Psilocybin for anxiety and depression in cancer care? Lessons from the past and prospects for the future. 10.1177/0269881116675754
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Mathew, S. J., & Zarate Jr, C. A. Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression. 10.1007/978-3-319-42925-0
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Ayahuasca is a plant-based psychoactive decoction traditionally utilized by cultural groups throughout parts of Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador during rites of passage, divination, warfare, magico-religious practices, and for healing in ethnomedical contexts. Over the last 150 years, ayahuasca has entered the global sphere and become a focus of scientific inquiry due to its reported use as an effective medicine to diagnose and treat illness. As a result, the use of ayahuasca within a healing context has become widespread and prompted researchers to investigate its putative therapeutic potential. In this chapter, the authors discuss current therapeutic applications of ayahuasca to treat addiction, depression, and anxiety. In this context, we highlight several studies to help facilitate a greater understanding of the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca.
Coe, M. A., & McKenna, D. J. (2017). The Therapeutic Potential of Ayahuasca. In Evidence-Based Herbal and Nutritional Treatments for Anxiety in Psychiatric Disorders (pp. 123-137). Springer International Publishing. 10.1007/978-3-319-42307-4_7
Enthusiasm over the growing series of reports describing ketamine’s rapid onset of robust antidepressant activity in clinical trials has ignited a large number of back-translational efforts attempting to employ rodent models to better characterize the antidepressant properties of the drug and to improve our understanding of its underlying mechanisms of antidepressant action. On balance, these preclinical studies have yielded fairly consistent findings demonstrating that ketamine has a broad range of behavioral effects consistent with antidepressant activity in a variety of rodent models. Many of these studies further suggest that ketamine’s effects are unique from other classic antidepressant drugs in producing more durable effects in some models and more rapidly reversing the behavioral effects of chronic stressor exposure in other models. The preclinical studies are also beginning to elucidate the drug’s mechanisms of antidepressant activity, with the majority of recent studies suggesting that increased levels of regional alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole proprionic acid (AMPA) receptor activation and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, as well as enhanced synaptic plasticity, are critical components of the response. However, there remain several points of disagreement and inconsistency in the preclinical literature that require additional investigation, including the effectiveness of other NMDA receptor-targeting drugs and the specific targets of ketamine’s proximal effects. This chapter provides an overview and critical review of this preclinical literature. It is anticipated that a more complete understanding of ketamine’s mechanisms of antidepressant action will allow for a safer and more efficient use of ketamine in the clinical setting and afford us new opportunities for novel drug development.
Hermes, G., & Sanacora, G. (2016). Ketamine’s Mechanisms of Rapid Antidepressant Activity: Evidence from Preclinical Studies. In Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression (pp. 73-98). Springer International Publishing. 10.1007/978-3-319-42925-0_6