The Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Past, Present, and Future Robin L Carhart-Harris and Guy M Goodwin Neuropsychopharmacology, 2017, 42, 2105–2113 doi:10.1038/npp.2017.84; published online 17 May 2017 Plant-based psychedelics, such as psilocybin, have an ancient history of medicinal use. After the first English language report on LSD in 1950, psychedelics enjoyed a short-lived relationship with psychology and psychiatry. Used most notably as aids to psychotherapy for the treatment of mood disorders and alcohol dependence, drugs such as LSD showed initial therapeutic promise before prohibitive legislature in the mid-1960s effectively ended all major psychedelic research programs. Since the early 1990s, there has been a steady [...]
Lire la suiteHow Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Spontaneously Attend to Real-World Scenes : Use of a Change Blindness Paradigm Michal Hochhauser, Adi Aran, Ouriel Grynszpan Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2018, 48, 502–510 DOI 10.1007/s10803-017-3343-6 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320647151_How_Adolescents_with_Autism_Spectrum_Disorder_ASD_Spontaneously_Attend_to_Real-World_Scenes_Use_of_a_Change_Blindness_Paradigm [accessed Jul 16 2019]. Abstract Visual attention of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was assessed using a change blind-ness paradigm. Twenty-five adolescents with ASD aged 12–18 years and 25 matched typically developing (TD) adolescents viewed 36 pairs of digitized real-world images. Each pair of images was displayed in a ‘flicker paradigm’ whereby a particular item alternately appeared and disappeared. This item was either a central or a marginal [...]
Lire la suiteQualitative and Quantitative Features of Music Reported to Support Peak Mystical Experiences during Psychedelic Therapy Sessions Frederick S. Barrett, Hollis Robbins, David Smooke, Jenine L. Brown and Roland R. Griffiths Frontiers in Psychology, 2017 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 25 July 2017 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01238 Abstract Psilocybin is a classic (serotonergic) hallucinogen (“psychedelic” drug) that may occasion mystical experiences (characterized by a profound feeling of oneness or unity) during acute effects. Such experiences may have therapeutic value. Research and clinical applications of psychedelics usually include music listening during acute drug effects, based on the expectation that music will provide psychological support during the acute effects of psychedelic drugs, and [...]
Lire la suiteBeyond LSD : A Broader Psychedelic Zeitgeist during the Early to Mid-20th Century Jacob S. Aday, M.S. , Emily K. Bloesch, Ph.D. , and Christopher C. Davoli, Ph.D. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2019.1581961 ABSTRACT During the 1950s and 1960s, there was a tremendous surge in research into the effects of psychedelic drugs. When discussing this period of research, the discovery of the psychoactive properties of LSD in 1943 is often presented as the main, and sometimes only, driving force of the boom in research. This “Great Person,” or “Great Chemical,” historiographical lens fails to acknowledge other factors that were fundamental in setting the stage [...]
Lire la suiteEmotional breakthrough and psychedelics : Validation of the Emotional Breakthrough Inventory Leor Roseman, Eline Haijen, Kelvin Idialu-Ikato, Mendel Kaelen, Rosalind Watts and Robin Carhart-Harris Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2019, 1–12 DOI: 10.1177/0269881119855974 Abstract Background : Psychedelic therapy is gaining recognition and the nature of the psychedelic experience itself has been found to mediate subsequent long-term psychological changes. Much emphasis has been placed on the occurrence of mystical-type experiences in determining long-term responses to psychedelics yet here we demonstrate the importance of another component, namely: emotional breakthrough. Methods : Three hundred and seventy-nine participants completed online surveys before and after a planned psychedelic experience. Items pertaining to emotional [...]
Lire la suiteThe Meaning-Enhancing Properties of Psychedelics and Their Mediator Role in Psychedelic Therapy, Spirituality, and Creativity Ido Hartogsohn Frontiers in Neurosciences, 06 March 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.00129 Past research has demonstrated to the ability of psychedelics to enhance suggestibility, and pointed to their ability to amplify perception of meaning. This paper examines the existing evidence for the meaning-enhancing properties of psychedelics, and argues that the tendency of these agents to enhance the perception of significance offers valuable clues to explaining their reported ability to stimulate a variety of therapeutic processes, enhance creativity, and instigate mystical-type experiences. Building upon previous research, which suggested the potential role of [...]
Lire la suiteAn exploratory study of experiences with conventional eating disorder treatment and ceremonial ayahuasca for the healing of eating disorders Marika Renelli, Jenna Fletcher, Kenneth W. Tupper, Natasha Files, Anya Loizaga‑Velder, Adele Lafrance Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0619-6 Abstract Purpose : Ayahuasca is a traditional Amazonian medicine that is currently being researched for its potential in treating a variety of mental disorders. This article reports on exploratory qualitative research relating to participant experiences with ceremonial ayahuasca drinking and conventional treatment for eating disorders (EDs). It also explores the potential for ayahuasca as an adjunctive ED treatment. Methods : Thirteen [...]
Lire la suiteKetamine Promising in Cocaine Addiction Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW American Journal of Psychiatry, July 05, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.18101123 A single ketamine infusion combined with mindfulness-based relapse prevention therapy (MBRP) improves abstinence and cuts cravings in cocaine-dependent adults, new research suggests. Results of a randomized control trial show that rates of abstinence were significiantly higher in patients who received ketamine plus MBRP compared to control patients. Moreover, those in the group that received ketamine were significantly less likely to experience relapse compared to control persons, and cravings were also significantly lower in the ketamine group throughout the trial. "In individuals receiving MBRP, a single ketamine infusion led to significantly greater [...]
Lire la suiteThe influence of therapists’ first-hand experience with psychedelics on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy research and therapist training ELIZABETH M. NIELSON and JEFFREY GUSS Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2018 DOI: 10.1556/2054.2018.009 Abstract Clinical research on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is rapidly advancing in the USA, with two drugs, psilocybin and MDMA, progressing through a structure of FDA-approved trials on a trajectory toward Drug Enforcement Agency rescheduling for therapeutic use. Researcher’s and clinician’s personal use of psychedelics was cited as a potential confound in psychedelic research studies conducted in the 1950s and 1960s, a concern which contributed to the cessation of this research for some 20 years. Currently, there is no [...]
Lire la suiteInclusion of people of color in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy : a review of the literature Timothy I. Michaels, Jennifer Purdon, Alexis Collins and Monnica T. Williams BMC Psychiatry, 2018, 18, 245 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1824-6 Abstract Background : Despite renewed interest in studying the safety and efficacy of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of psychological disorders, the enrollment of racially diverse participants and the unique presentation of psychopathology in this population has not been a focus of this potentially ground-breaking area of research. In 1993, the United States National Institutes of Health issued a mandate that funded research must include participants of color and proposals must include methods for [...]
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