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.
33 papers
Research points to two clear groups of treatments for anxiety. First, ordinary approaches like exercise — especially walking and other regular physical activity — have strong, high-quality evidence showing medium-sized reductions in anxiety symptoms. These are proven in many randomized trials and reviews. Second, newer substance-assisted therapies (often called psychedelic‑assisted therapy) are promising. Small clinical trials and reviews show reductions in anxiety and related problems after carefully supervised doses of drugs such as psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and ayahuasca. However, these drug approaches are mostly early-stage or done in special research settings and need more, larger trials before they can become routine care. People thinking about or treating anxiety should know that drug‑assisted therapies are almost always given together with serious psychological support. How the drug is given, the preparation before it, and follow-up therapy matter a lot. There are also safety and equity issues to watch: some psychedelics can have rare lasting side effects, many studies are small, and people of color have been underrepresented in trials. For now, exercise has the clearest and broadest evidence. Other treatments are promising but still need more testing and careful medical oversight.
This meta-analysis combined 241 effect sizes from 114 studies to test how six habitual emotion-regulation strategies relate to symptoms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance-related problems. Rumination showed the strongest (large) link with symptoms. Avoidance, problem solving, and suppression showed medium-to-large links, while reappraisal and acceptance showed smaller (small-to-medium)…
The authors reviewed psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy studies published from 1993 to 2017 to see how many people of color took part. They found 18 studies with about 280 people. About 82% of participants were non-Hispanic White, while only small percentages were African American, Latino, Asian, indigenous, or mixed race. Because so…
Researchers reviewed many outcome studies and meta-analyses of psychodynamic therapy, which is a type of talking therapy that explores feelings, relationships, and past experiences. They found that psychodynamic therapy often works better than doing nothing (for example being on a waitlist, getting only usual care, or a placebo) for depression,…
This review looked at many studies about classic psychedelics (like psilocybin and LSD), MDMA, ketamine, and plant medicines (like ayahuasca). The authors explain how these drugs can change the brain’s wiring, calm inflammatory processes, and shift key brain chemicals. Those actions may help explain why small clinical trials and animal…
Researchers collected and read 15 studies where patients described their own experiences with psychedelic treatments for mental disorders. These studies looked at about 180 patient accounts across different drugs and different illnesses. Even though the drugs and treatment settings were very different, many patients described similar helpful processes, such as…
Researchers around the world have started clinical studies again to see if psychedelic drugs can help treat serious mental health problems. This work picks up after research that stopped around the 1950s. Scientists are running controlled studies to test whether these substances can safely reduce problems like depression, anxiety, addiction…
This review explains the fast-growing problem of so-called "legal highs", which are better called novel psychoactive substances or NPS. Unknown labs keep making slightly different chemicals to avoid bans, and this led to about 80 new substances being spotted in one year. The paper groups these drugs into five main…
This paper looks at whether 'mixed anxiety and depressive disorder' should be an official diagnosis. That label describes people who have both anxiety and depression symptoms that are real and limiting, but not strong enough to count as a full disorder on their own. The authors review studies that support…
Researchers followed two groups of people who planned to use a psychedelic. They gave questionnaires before the trip, then about two weeks and four weeks after. On average, people reported less avoidance of painful thoughts and feelings, lower depression scores, and less thinking about suicide after using a psychedelic. The…
This systematic review looked at 33 studies about social anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The studies suggest social anxiety increased in the general population. Women and people with low incomes appeared more likely to report higher social anxiety. Other links to higher social anxiety included poor coping, weaker social support,…
This paper looked across existing studies of psilocybin and found that, when it is given along with psychotherapy or therapy-style support, it looks promising as a treatment for several mental health problems, including cases that did not get better with other treatments. But the authors say the current studies are…
The researchers did a large, careful search for studies of digital mental health tools (things like websites, phone apps, text messages, or online therapy) aimed at reducing depression and anxiety in low- and middle-income countries. They only kept randomized controlled trials, which are studies where people are randomly put into…
