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Frontier mental health research: psychedelics & drug studies

Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Clinical Psychology Substance abuse disorder

2 papers

Substance abuse disorder

Based on 23 papers

Researchers are testing many different ways to treat substance use problems. The most attention right now is on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (giving a drug like psilocybin or MDMA together with lots of therapy). Reviews and early trials say this approach can be done safely and looks promising for helping some people, but the evidence for treating addiction is still limited and not yet conclusive (15051,15063,15073,15086). For specific drugs, the strongest controlled evidence so far is for psychedelics in other disorders (for example MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for some depression and cancer-related anxiety), not yet for most substance use disorders. Other approaches include new chemical versions of old drugs (for example oxa-iboga for opioid problems) that show strong results in animals but not yet in humans (15115,15063,15086). Also, for methamphetamine there are currently no approved medicines that clearly reduce use, despite many trials (15116). Across studies, experts agree that the therapy around drug sessions matters a lot. Careful screening, preparation, the right setting, and follow-up therapy are commonly included and likely affect both safety and outcomes (15065,15086,15051). Safety risks exist (for example rare lasting perceptual problems or psychosis after hallucinogens), and legal, ethical, and industry changes are moving fast and add uncertainty (15097,15080,15079,15087). Tools like AI that read clinical notes could help clinicians spot severity and plan care, but those tools are still in development (15125).

Key findings

  • Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy can be delivered safely in clinical studies and shows promise for reducing harmful drug use, but the evidence for treating substance use disorders is still limited and not yet conclusive. 15051 15073 15086 15063
  • MDMA and psilocybin have stronger clinical evidence for problems like PTSD and some types of depression, while evidence for addiction is promising but smaller and earlier-stage. 15063 15086 15073
  • For opioid problems, new ibogaine-like compounds called oxa-iboga lowered long-term opioid use in animal tests and did not show the heart-rhythm risk seen with traditional ibogaine in lab heart-cell tests; human trials are not yet reported. 15115
  • For methamphetamine use disorder, there are currently no approved medicines that clearly reduce cravings or long-term use; several drugs helped in animals but failed to produce lasting reductions in people. 15116
  • 5‑MeO‑DMT is a short-acting psychedelic that produces intense experiences and brain changes that could be useful for alcohol problems, but research in humans is still early and exploratory. 15122
  • Good preparation and follow-up therapy (often called 'set and setting' plus integration) are widely seen as important parts of substance-assisted psychotherapy and are commonly used in clinical studies. 15065 15086 15051
  • Psychedelics and other psychoactive drugs can rarely cause lasting changes in perception or trigger psychosis-like problems; people with prior mental-health issues seem at higher risk, and the overall risk picture is not fully understood. 15097 15080
  • Traditional healers in one Ugandan district reported using many plant remedies for alcohol-related problems, but these practices have not been tested in controlled clinical trials and so cannot be judged by standard modern evidence yet. 15118
  • Research on psychedelics has grown rapidly since the 1990s and now draws major investment and changing laws; this speeds development but raises ethical, access, and regulation questions that affect patients and practitioners. 15064 15087 15079 15057
  • New tools that use large language models (a kind of AI that reads and understands text) can pull out severity information from doctors' notes better than older rule-based methods, which might help clinicians plan care in the future, but these tools are not ready to replace doctors. 15125

Counselors’ attitudes toward psychedelics and their use in therapy

Benjamin Hearn, Michael D. Brubaker, George B. Richardson
Journal of Counseling & Development Summary & key facts 2022 42 citations

Researchers surveyed counseling professionals about psychedelics and psychedelic‑assisted therapy. They found that counselors had mixed feelings overall, but were more accepting when use was medically supervised. Most counselors said these therapies show promise and that more research is needed. The study matters because drugs like MDMA and psilocybin may soon…

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior Psychedelics and Drug Studies MDMA Psilocybin

The potential of 5‐methoxy‐N,N‐dimethyltryptamine in the treatment of alcohol use disorder: A first look at therapeutic mechanisms of action

Stephan Tap
Addiction Biology Summary & key facts 2024 11 citations

This paper is a first look at whether the fast-acting psychedelic 5‑MeO‑DMT might help people with alcohol use disorder. The authors reviewed existing studies in humans and animals and found early signs that 5‑MeO‑DMT can cause intense mystical feelings and a loss of self-boundaries, and that it changes brain rhythms…

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior Psychedelics and Drug Studies LSD Other
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