Using the highs to combat the lows: ketamine-assisted therapy for anxiety and depression

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In her debut blog, Gabrielle Williams reviews a US study on the safety and effectiveness of ketamine-assisted therapy (a digital intervention combining psychotherapy, journaling and ketamine) for moderate to severe anxiety and depression.

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Psilocybin for ‘treatment-resistant depression’: an island of hope in an ocean of uncertainty?

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In this blog, UCL MSc students consider an RCT published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which suggests that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy may help reduce depression in people with severe and enduring illness, but side effects are common and more research is needed to look into longer term effects.

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Psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy for alcohol use disorder: room for more evidence

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In her debut blog, Heidi Stevens reviews a recent US randomised controlled trial on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for adults with alcohol use disorder, which leaves us with more questions than answers.

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Ketamine and suicidal ideation: French trial finds modest short-term effects

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Anya Borissova reviews a French trial that claims to be evidence that “ketamine is rapid, safe in the short term, and has persistent benefits for acute care in suicidal patients”.

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How could MDMA-assisted and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy help people with depression and PTSD?

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Anya Borissova and Philip Brooks consider a recent review exploring MDMA-assisted psychotherapy and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for trauma-related mental health difficulties.

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Ketamine “shows promise” as an anti-suicidal ideation agent, but will this promise ever be realised?

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Rosalind McAlpine and Karel Kieslich summarise a recent systematic review which focuses on the rapid anti-suicidal ideation effect of ketamine.

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Can ketamine metabolites and gamma power help predict clinical response for ‘treatment resistant depression’?

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Anya Borissova summarises a recent randomised placebo-controlled trial that evaluated ketamine metabolites, clinical response, and gamma power for major depression.

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Turn on, or tune out? Is psilocybin assisted therapy close to becoming a first-line treatment for depression?

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James Rucker and Sameer Jauhar summarise a recent RCT on the effectiveness of psilocybin assisted therapy versus escitalopram assisted therapy for major depressive disorder.

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Patients’ experience of ketamine treatment for depression: the ‘Ketamine and me’ project

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In her debut blog, Harmony Jiang reviews a recent qualitative study exploring patients’ experience and response to ketamine treatment for depression.

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MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for alcohol use disorder: is it feasible?

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Anya Borissova reviews a recent UK pilot study which suggests that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is a feasible intervention to use in people with alcohol use disorder. Now we need randomised trials that can reliably measure safety and effectiveness.

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