Psychedelic medicine: mechanisms, evidence, and translation to practice - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #mental health
- #clinical trials
- #psychedelic medicine
- Psychedelic treatments like psilocybin and MDMA are advancing in phase 3 trials for psychiatric conditions.
- These treatments combine limited drug administration with psychotherapy, affecting neural circuitry and emotional processing.
- Strongest evidence supports psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and MDMA for PTSD.
- Emerging data shows potential in substance use disorders and psychological distress in life-threatening illnesses.
- Methodological challenges include functional unblinding, variable psychotherapeutic protocols, and homogeneous trial populations.
- Current treatment models require extensive therapeutic support, posing scalability issues.
- Future research priorities include standardizing adverse event assessment and developing implementation guidelines.
- The field must address regulatory and healthcare system constraints to fulfill therapeutic promise.