Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Ketamine and Psilocybin in Comparison to Current Treatment Regimens for Treatment-Resistant Depression, Mood Disorders, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in the Pediatric Population: A Narrative Review

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This review examines two emerging psychiatric treatments—ketamine and psilocybin—for treating hard-to-treat mental health conditions in children and teenagers. Both work by affecting brain chemicals differently than traditional medications and can provide rapid symptom relief, sometimes within hours or days rather than weeks. The study found promising results for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and bipolar disorder, though researchers emphasize that more studies are needed to ensure these treatments are safe for developing brains and that careful ethical guidelines must be established.

Decreases in State and Trait Anxiety Post-psilocybin: A Naturalistic, Observational Study Among Retreat Attendees

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This study followed 52 people who attended psilocybin retreats in the Netherlands and measured their anxiety levels before, one day after, and one week after the experience. Participants showed significant reductions in both immediate anxiety (state anxiety) and long-term anxiety tendencies (trait anxiety) that lasted up to a week. The anxiety improvements were most strongly linked to feeling a sense of ego dissolution during the experience and to lasting changes in personality traits, particularly becoming less neurotic.

From Efficacy to Effectiveness: Evaluating Psychedelic Randomized Controlled Trials for Trustworthy Evidence-Based Policy and Practice

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This paper discusses why testing psychedelic therapies in clinical trials is more complicated than testing regular drugs. When people take psychedelics like MDMA or psilocybin, they clearly notice the effects, which makes it hard to keep the study ‘blinded’ (where neither patients nor researchers know who got the real drug). The author argues that for therapies combining drugs with counseling, this actually makes sense because the therapy itself is part of how the treatment works, not just a confounding factor. However, for stand-alone drug use, this unblinding is a real problem that makes it unclear whether the drug or people’s expectations caused the improvement.

Therapeutic emergence of dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa

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Two patients with severe anorexia nervosa received psilocybin-assisted therapy and unexpectedly recovered memories of sexual assault that had been unconsciously suppressed. Processing these traumatic memories with professional support led both patients to achieve remission from their eating disorders within three months. This case report suggests that psilocybin may help unlock and heal deeply buried trauma underlying eating disorders, though more research is needed to understand how this works and ensure patient safety.

Implementing psychedelic-assisted therapy: History and characteristics of the Swiss limited medical use program

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Switzerland operates a unique program allowing controlled use of psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin) and MDMA to help patients with serious mental health conditions that haven’t responded to standard treatments. Since 2014, about 100 doctors have treated 700+ patients with these substances as part of therapy sessions. The program requires careful patient screening, informed consent, and outcome reporting, with patients typically receiving 2-4 treatments over 12 months. Most patients showed significant improvement in their conditions, though some experienced side effects like nausea or headaches.

A clinical protocol for group-based ketamine-assisted therapy in a community of practice: the Roots To Thrive model

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The Roots to Thrive ketamine-assisted therapy program is a 12-week group treatment that combines ketamine sessions with weekly group meetings, somatic practices, and emotional support. The program integrates both Western clinical approaches and Indigenous wisdom, treating depression, anxiety, and PTSD in groups of 20-40 participants. Over 750 people have participated with significant improvements in mental health symptoms and life functioning, demonstrating that this group-based approach is both safe and effective.

Attitudes toward psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapy among potential mental health service users and the general population in Australia

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This Australian study surveyed over 500 people about their views on psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA for treating mental health conditions. Most people supported medical legalization of these substances, though many had safety concerns. Those with mental illness, those with prior psychedelic experience, and those with better knowledge of psychedelics were most supportive of their therapeutic use.

Multianalytical Investigation of Psilocybe cubensis Mushrooms: Physicochemical Characterization and Biological Evaluation of Psilocybin and Psilocin Compounds

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Scientists extracted and analyzed psilocybin and psilocin from Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms to develop a medication for treating mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. Using various analytical techniques, they confirmed the extract contained about 3.26% psilocybin and was safe, pure, and stable. The research shows that creating a psilocybin-based medicine from these mushrooms is feasible and could offer a new treatment option for people struggling with mental health issues.

Disease: Generalized Anxiety Disorder