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Psychological Medicine

17 Papers Indexed in Blossom

Published Papers

Open Accessindividual

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms following psychedelic use: a naturalistic survey study

This survey study (n=243) examined people who had distressing psychedelic experiences and found that about a third met self-reported DSM-5 criteria for PTSD afterwards. PTSD symptoms were linked to what happened during the acute experience, with avoidance associated with worse symptoms and acceptance linked to lower symptom severity and more post-traumatic growth.

Published
Journal
Psychological Medicine
Authors
Evens, R., Uyar, A., Gosslau, E., Dambeck, F., Repantis, D., Wolff, M., Lueken, U.
Paywallindividual

Assessing expectancy and suggestibility in a trial of escitalopram v. psilocybin for depression

In a double-blind randomised trial (n=55) comparing escitalopram and COMP360 psilocybin for major depressive disorder, pre-treatment expectancy predicted response to escitalopram but not to psilocybin, whereas baseline trait suggestibility was associated with response to psilocybin only. These findings suggest psychedelic therapy may be less vulnerable to expectancy biases but could be particularly effective in highly suggestible individuals.

Published
Journal
Psychological Medicine
Authors
Szigeti, B., Weiss, B., Rosas, F. E., Erritzoe, D., Nutt, D. J., Carhart-Harris, R. L.
Open Accessindividual

Longitudinal associations between psychedelic use and meditation practices in the United States and the United Kingdom

In representative longitudinal samples from the US and UK, self-reported psychedelic use over a two-month period was associated with greater increases in days of mindfulness meditation, and among users the subjective experience of insight predicted increases in both mindfulness and loving‑kindness/compassion practice. Higher baseline engagement in loving‑kindness/compassion meditation was associated with less intense subjective feelings of death or dying during participants' most intense psychedelic experience, suggesting psychedelics may promote meditation uptake while some meditation practices could buffer challenging psychedelic experiences.

Published
Journal
Psychological Medicine
Authors
Simonsson, O., Osika, W., Stenfors, C. U. D., Goldberg, S. B., Honk, L., Hendricks, P. S.
Open Accessmeta

Dark loops: contagion effects, consistency and chemosocial matrices in psychedelic-assisted therapy trials

The paper argues that psychedelic-assisted therapy trials generate chemosocial networks — "dark loops" of unmeasured social contagion and movement-driven hype arising from shared drug exposure — which breach standard causal‑inference assumptions and complicate interpretation of trial efficacy. It proposes three researcher responses: chemosocial minimisation, chemosocial description and chemosocial valorisation.

Published
Journal
Psychological Medicine
Authors
Noorani, T. N., Bedi, G., Muthukumaraswamy, S.
Open Accessmeta

Cost-effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted therapy for severe depression: exploratory findings from a decision analytic model

Using a 6‑month decision analytic model, the authors found psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy produced the highest QALYs but higher healthcare costs, and could be cost‑effective versus medication and CBT if therapist support costs were halved and psilocybin were priced at about £400–£800 per person. From a societal perspective PAP appeared more favourable, though longer‑term outcome data are needed.

Published
Journal
Psychological Medicine
Authors
Mccrone, P., Fisher, H., Knight, C., Harding, R., Schlag, A. K., Nutt, D. J., Neill, J. C.
Open Accessindividual

Personality change in a trial of psilocybin therapy v. escitalopram treatment for depression

In a double‑blind randomized phase 2 trial for moderate-to-severe depression, both psilocybin therapy and escitalopram produced similar personality changes consistent with improved mental health (notably reduced neuroticism, disagreeableness and impulsivity, and increased openness), with only a possible selective increase in absorption after psilocybin. Changes following escitalopram were moderated by pre-trial positive expectancy, whereas expectancy did not moderate responses to psilocybin.

Published
Journal
Psychological Medicine
Authors
Weiss, B., Ginige, I., Shannon, L., Giribaldi, B., Murphy-Beiner, A., Murphy, R., Baker-Jones, M., Martell, J., Nutt, D. J., Carhart-Harris, R. L., Erritzoe, D.

Quick Facts

Papers Indexed
17
h-Index
251
Open Access
No
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Country
United Kingdom
Website
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