Psychedelics

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

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

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

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

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...

Q13 Fox News discusses recent research giving psychedelics to people struggling with alcohol or cigarettes. David Nutt, an Imperial College London neuro-psychopharmacologist "thinks psilocybin...

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

The journal Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology has published a review of what is known about psychedelic drugs' biochemical effects in the human brain, their...

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.

-Psychiatry Advisor reports on psychiatrist James Rucker's campaign for more research into the therapeutic potentials of psychedelic drugs, and on critics who point to the risks.

-Michael Pollan visits the resurgence of interest in the psychotherapeutic properties of psychedelic drugs in an essay in The New Yorker.

The Washington Post explores some of the history of research into the therapeutic potentials of even just one session with a psychedelic drug, and...

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...

A psychiatrist at the University of Arizona was fired after state Republican Senators criticized her work to university officials, according to the New York...

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 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 →­

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.

A Kings College London psychiatrist worries what broad new British restrictions on psychoactive substances could mean for psychedelic research.

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 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...

People who have taken a psychedelic drug at least once have less suicidal thinking than the general population.

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.”

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

The Multi-Disciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies' Winter 2014 Bulletin is freely available. Among other articles, the issue includes a personal story of a patient,...

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....