Psychedelics

New research contends that ketamine can reduce problematic alcohol use but does the data support the claims?

A new article documents the “flimsy evidence” behind the recent FDA approval of the party drug esketamine for the treatment of depression.

A new study examines the effects of CBD as an adjunct therapy to antipsychotic medication for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.

From The New York Times: In a new book, Blue Dreams, psychologist and patient Lauren Slater critiques the drug-based model of psychiatric care, debunking the chemical...

From Scientific American: Although "normal" technically means average or typical, both researchers and the general public often view normality as a standard we should all...

From Scientific American: In a day and age when people are increasingly becoming addicted to prescription drugs, and increasingly helped by the therapeutic effects of illicit...

In this piece for Vice, Max Daly explores the impact of societal attitudes toward drug use and drug users on the drug policy debate over prohibition...

From Massive: Increasing evidence suggests that psychedelics may revolutionize mental health care. In order for this "psychedelic renaissance" to last, scientists and citizens will need...

From Yahoo! Finance: The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has passed a major hurdle on the path to getting MDMA approved for medical use....

In this interview for 3:AM Magazine, Chris Letheby argues that even though psychedelics may induce delusions or imaginary phenomena, their use can also lead to accurate...

From Medical Xpress: Researchers have proposed that psychedelic drugs such as LSD and magic mushrooms may help some people with anxiety, depression, and addiction by dissolving...

Researchers report that dangerous side effects are not being adequately reported in the trials of ketamine for depression.

In this piece for TIME, Mandy Oaklander provides a comprehensive review of the current status of and potential future directions for the depression treatment industry. The...

In this interview for Scientific American, psychiatrist John Halpern discusses some of the potentially therapeutic effects of peyote, ayahuasca, psilocybin, MDMA and other psychedelics. "Once when...

From Neuroskeptic: A new paper examines the often arbitrary distinction between "hard" and "soft" drugs, recommending that scientists avoid using these classifications in research publications. Article →­

From Aeon: Experiencing ecstasy and transcendence has long been pathologized and marginalized by Western culture and the psychiatric model of "mental illness." However, ecstatic experiences, including...

From Discover Magazine: A group of psychiatrists from the American Psychiatric Association has recently released A Consensus Statement on the Use of Ketamine in the...

From The Globe and Mail: A judge has recently ruled that patients at a mental health facility in Ontario were tortured by doctors over a...

Last week, the FDA gave permission for ecstasy to move into Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of PTSD. “If they can keep...

A new study, published this month in the Journal of Affective Disorders, investigated the effectiveness of weekly intravenous ketamine injections as a treatment for...

Following a lawsuit brought by Andrew Thibault of Parents Against Pharmaceutical Abuse (PAPA), the FDA has produced adverse event and severe adverse event reports...

The Daily Telegraph reports on a warning published in the Medical Journal of Australia that urges doctors not to “jump the gun in prescribing patients the drug ketamine to treat depression.”

A “not otherwise specified” (NOS) diagnosis is often used when an individual may have some symptoms related to a psychiatric diagnosis but does not meet enough criteria to warrant a particular diagnosis. A new study, published online ahead of print in Psychiatric Services, reveals that the proportion of mental health visits resulting in such NOS diagnoses rose to nearly fifty percent, and that these diagnoses do not result in more conservative psychiatric drug prescriptions.

In 2014, then National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) director, Thomas Insel, speculated that ketamine “might be the most important breakthrough in antidepressant treatment in decades.” A recent review of the research suggests that while ketamine may produce a rapid short-term improvement in depression, the effect is short-lived and the potential for addiction and dependence warrants considerable caution.

NPR reports on how ketamine is being used off-label to treat depression.