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.
This randomized, double‑blind, cross‑over trial gave 51 patients with life‑threatening cancer two sessions of psilocybin (one very low dose and one high dose) spaced five weeks apart. The high dose (22–30 mg/70 kg) produced large drops in clinician‑ and self‑rated depression and anxiety, and increased quality of life, meaning, and…
This randomized, double-blind phase 3 trial tested MDMA-assisted therapy versus placebo with the same therapy in 90 adults with severe PTSD. Participants had three drug sessions plus preparatory and integration therapy, and were assessed 18 weeks after starting. The MDMA group had larger drops in PTSD symptoms and in functional…
This paper pooled data from six randomized, double‑blind phase‑2 trials of MDMA‑assisted psychotherapy for adults with PTSD (total N=103). After two blinded MDMA sessions, the MDMA group showed larger reductions in clinician‑rated PTSD symptoms than the control group (mean difference −22.0 points on the CAPS‑IV, P < 0.001) and a…
This multi-site, randomized, double-blind phase 3 trial tested MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) versus placebo with the same therapy in 104 people with moderate to severe PTSD. Blinded assessors found larger average reductions in PTSD symptoms and in functional impairment for the MDMA-AT group than for the placebo group. The MDMA group…
This review explains why the FDA gave Breakthrough Therapy Designation to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. It summarizes six Phase 2 trials (2004–2017) in which MDMA was given in up to three 8-hour sessions combined with preparatory and follow-up therapy, and pooled analyses showed a large effect on PTSD symptoms and…
This small, randomized, double-blind pilot study tested MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety tied to life‑threatening illness. Eighteen people were enrolled (13 got MDMA, 5 got placebo) and had two blinded 8‑hour therapy sessions, with later open‑label MDMA sessions and 6‑ and 12‑month follow-ups. The MDMA group showed a larger drop in…
This study looked at 152 moderate cannabis users (21–70 years old) to see what they expect cannabis will do for sleep and what their reported sleep was like. Users were more likely to expect cannabis to help sleep, but the study found few clear links between cannabis use and better…
MAPS reports results from a randomized, blinded Phase 3 trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for severe, chronic PTSD (90 people, average 14 years of PTSD). After three MDMA-assisted therapy sessions, 67% of treated participants no longer met the study's PTSD diagnosis and 88% had a clinically meaningful symptom drop, compared with…
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…
This paper is a broad review that looks at how therapy that uses drugs together with psychotherapy should be done. The authors collect ideas from other studies about what therapists need to know, including ethical questions and the spiritual side of some treatments. They point out that the helpful effects…
Researchers analyzed answers from about 56,000 people in a 2018 U.S. health survey to see who has used hallucinogens. They found about 16% had tried a hallucinogen at least once, and about 2% had used one in the past year. Use was higher among White and multiracial people and lowest…
This review compares recreational MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly) with MDMA-Assisted Therapy (MDMA‑AT) for PTSD. It says MDMA-AT showed promising early results in controlled trials: after three MDMA sessions with psychotherapy many people stopped meeting PTSD criteria, and benefits lasted at follow-up. The FDA called MDMA-AT a Breakthrough Therapy in 2017 but asked…
