Scientific Research

Ketamine, a glutamate receptor–blocking drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for anesthetic use, has become a target of research for its antidepressant effects, and possible anti-suicidal effects.

Recently a large trial of repeated dose racemic ketamine also demonstrated efficacy in severe depression.

We examined participants’ pathways to receiving ketamine infusion to treat their depression, and their responses to, lived experiences of, and attitudes towards ketamine treatment.

In the past two decades, subanaesthetic doses of ketamine have been demonstrated to have rapid and sustained antidepressant effects, and accumulating research has demonstrated ketamine’s therapeutic effects for a range of psychiatric conditions.

This article reviews the clinical evidence regarding single-dose intravenous (IV) administration of the novel glutamatergic modulator racemic (R,S)-ketamine (hereafter referred to as ketamine) as well as its S-enantiomer, intranasal esketamine, for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).

This case study illustrates the use of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy as a tool for preparation and integration of non-ordinary states of consciousness. It provides an account of work from the field of psychedelic-assisted EMDR therapy (PsyA-EMDR) and explores how the eight phases can be adapted to optimise psychedelic healing. The client attended six preparatory EMDR sessions, a psilocybin treatment in the Netherlands, followed by six sessions of EMDR to facilitate integration of the psychological material that emerged at the retreat. Key themes of set (mindset) and setting, resourcing, working with the transpersonal content, and bridging into the psychedelic matrix are explored. The adaptive information processing (AIP) model is used to conceptualise the process throughout.

Seventy detoxified heroin-addicted patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups receiving ketamine psychotherapy (KPT) involving two different doses of ketamine. The patients of the experimental group received existentially oriented psychotherapy in combination with a hallucinogenic (“psychedelic”) dose of ketamine (2.0 mg/kg im).

The success of modern medicine creates a growing population of those suffering from life‐threatening illnesses (LTI) who often experience anxiety, depression, and existential distress. We present a novel approach; investigating MDMA‐assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of anxiety in people with an LTI.

From 1 July this year, medicines containing the psychedelic substances psilocybin and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) can be prescribed by specifically authorised psychiatrists for the treatment of certain mental health conditions in Australia.

The first Phase III randomized controlled trial of 3,4-methyl enedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA) supported the efficacy of this drug for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).1 This 18-week study (MDMA n = 46, Placebo n = 44) involved three drug administration sessions combined with a supportive psychotherapy.

Early evidence suggests that ketamine may be an effective treatment to sustain abstinence from alcohol. The authors investigated the safety and efficacy of ketamine compared with placebo in increasing abstinence in patients with alcohol use disorder. An additional aim was to pilot ketamine combined with mindfulness-based relapse prevention therapy compared with ketamine and alcohol education as a therapy control.

It was concluded that the investigation of brain stimulation techniques can be applied to induce favourable mental states to enlarge treatments of several disorders that affect humans in a safe and non-invasive way. It is suggested that positive results can also be found through the association of brain stimulation by light and sound with therapies that combat depression and anxiety states.

Addictions remain challenging conditions despite various promising traditional approaches. Although complete, long-term abstinence may be ideal, its attainment remains elusive. Many recovering addicts and clinicians stress the importance of spiritual issues in recovery, and 12-step programs such as AA are well-known approaches that embrace this philosophy. Holotropic Breathwork (HB) is another powerful, spiritually oriented approach to self-exploration and healing that integrates insights from modern consciousness research, anthropology, depth psychologies, transpersonal psychology, Eastern spiritual practices, and many mystical traditions.

Mental Illnesses, particularly anxiety, insomnia, and depression often involve vicious cycles which are self-perpetuating and can trap one into a more chronic state. For example in the case of insomnia, sympathetic overactivity, intrusive thoughts, and emotional instability due to sleep loss can perpetuate further sleep loss the next night and so on.

Depression is a common mental disorder with a large treatment gap. Low-intensity, automated virtual reality (VR) interventions (not requiring a therapist) is a scalable and promising solution now that VR is an accessible and mature, consumer technology.

Virtual reality (VR) describes a family of technologies which immerse users in sensorily-stimulating virtual environments. Such technologies have increasingly found applications in the treatment of neurological and mental health disorders. Depression, anxiety, and other mood abnormalities are of concern in the growing older population—especially those who reside in long-term care facilities (LTCFs).

Results suggest that CET combined with BT treatment is effective in reducing craving and physiology reactivity in heroin dependents and could be used as a component of heroin-dependence rehabilitation.

The approach described here, using hypnosis for treatment, is borrowed from studies effectively treating alcoholism by using intensive daily sessions. Combining the more intense treatment of 20 daily sessions with hypnosis is a successful method to treat addictions.

Virtual reality therapy (VRT) is an innovative and emerging paradigm that provides effective modality of therapy by allowing clients to be exposed to similar stimuli as their real-world experiences using a computer-generated virtual reality. Extensive empirical research in VRT attests to the effective uses of this technology in treating many psychological disorders.

There is growing interest in glutamatergic agents in depression, particularly ketamine, a glutamate N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. We aimed to assess the efficacy of ketamine in major depressive episodes.

An increasing number of studies are reporting that ketamine could be treated as a novel antidepressant for major depressive disorder (MDD). Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to comprehensively and systematically assess the efficacy of ketamine for treating patients with MDD.

IV ketamine is widely used to treat patients with chronic pain, yet the long-term impact remains uncertain. We synthesized evidence from randomized control trials to investigate the effectiveness of IV ketamine infusions for pain relief in chronic conditions and to determine whether any pain classifications or treatment regimens are associated with greater benefit.