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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.

Feeling disconnected from others Big Five personality traits Frontiers in Psychology

1 paper

Feeling disconnected from others

Based on 18 papers

Researchers are studying whether giving certain drugs together with guided psychotherapy can help people who feel stuck or cut off from others. The most studied drugs are MDMA and classic psychedelics like psilocybin. Early clinical trials and patient reports show these treatments can increase feelings of connectedness and reduce some symptoms of depression and post‑traumatic stress. The strongest clinical evidence so far is for MDMA paired with psychotherapy for PTSD, and for psilocybin in small trials for depression and end‑of‑life anxiety. But many studies are still small or early. Safety, cultural inclusion, and how to run fair trials are important current concerns. Non‑drug factors — the preparation, the therapist relationship, the setting, and follow‑up therapy — matter a lot for both benefit and risk.

Key findings

  • Psychedelic‑assisted psychotherapy means a drug session plus hours of preparation and follow‑up therapy. 15096 15063 15053
  • MDMA‑assisted therapy has produced large benefits for people with PTSD in several controlled trials, including a larger recent trial, but regulatory approval is not settled. 15063 15078 15096
  • Psilocybin has shown promising help for major depression, treatment‑resistant depression, and anxiety in people with serious illness, but most trials are small or early‑stage. 15063 15055 15078
  • People who take psychedelics often report stronger feelings of connection to others and less of a separate self (called connectedness and ego‑dissolution), and these experiences are linked to better outcomes. 15062 15092 15052
  • Non‑drug factors — a person’s mindset, the physical and social setting, the therapist relationship, music, and careful integration afterward — strongly shape whether the treatment helps and whether people feel more connected. 15086 15092 15096
  • Naturalistic and survey studies report increases in social connectedness and personality changes like more agreeableness and less emotional reactivity after psychedelic experiences, but these studies cannot prove cause. 15052 15119
  • There are safety concerns: adolescents report more challenging sessions and higher rates of persistent visual symptoms, and some drugs can cause hallucinations that range from mild to severe and sometimes lead to lasting problems. 15119 15080
  • Biological studies suggest these drugs can make brain circuits more flexible and change social openness (for example, classic psychedelics act on serotonin receptors and MDMA boosts serotonin), but the exact healing mechanisms remain unclear. 15091 15086
  • The research field is growing again, but many trials are early and people from Indigenous and minority communities are often missing from studies and treatment planning. 15098 15094 15078

Examining Psychedelic-Induced Changes in Social Functioning and Connectedness in a Naturalistic Online Sample Using the Five-Factor Model of Personality

Brandon Weiss, Victoria Amalie Nygart, Lis Marie Pommerencke, Robin Carhart‐Harris, David Erritzøe
Frontiers in Psychology Summary & key facts 2021 45 citations

Researchers followed people who used psychedelics in real life and signed up online. They asked them about their personality and how connected they felt to others before the experience, two weeks after, and four weeks after. On average, people reported feeling less emotional instability, becoming more friendly and cooperative, and…

Chemical synthesis and alkaloids Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior Psychedelics and Drug Studies
Summaries and links are for general information and education only. They are not a substitute for reading the original publication or for professional medical, legal, or other advice. Always refer to the linked source for the full study.