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.
Research shows several different ways can help with sadness or low mood. Right now, the strongest clinical evidence for a fast-acting drug comes from ketamine and its approved form esketamine. At the same time, a wave of studies on classic psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD, DMT) and entactogens (MDMA) looks promising, especially when the drug is given together with careful psychological support. However, most psychedelic studies are still small or early-stage. They often rely on the setting, preparation, and therapy as part of the treatment, so researchers say we need larger, controlled trials and more long-term safety data. Also, non-drug options like brain stimulation and standard psychotherapies remain important parts of treatment plans and have mixed but useful evidence.
Treatment-resistant depression means depression that does not get better after usual treatments. Scientists do not all agree on one clear definition, which makes it hard to know exactly how common it is or which treatments work best. Using the definition that regulators often use, about 30% of people with depression…
This paper is a careful review of research about treatment-resistant depression. The authors looked through medical studies to see how doctors define this kind of depression, what makes it hard to assess, and which treatments have been tried. They describe drug strategies like adding lithium or thyroid hormone, switching antidepressant…
Researchers ran a clinical trial that directly compared ketamine treatment with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in people whose major depression had not improved with other treatments and who did not have psychosis. The trial found that ketamine was “noninferior” to ECT, which means ketamine worked at least as well as ECT…
This 2017 clinical review explains how bipolar I and II disorders are diagnosed and treated. It says bipolar illness involves swings between manic (or hypomanic) and depressive episodes. Treatment usually needs both medicines and psychosocial therapy, and care must be adjusted over time because relapses and incomplete responses — especially…
This systematic review looked for events that can trigger sudden mood episodes in people with bipolar disorder. The authors examined 108 studies published up to May 23, 2022. They found the strongest evidence that antidepressant use is linked to manic or hypomanic episodes. Other reported triggers for mania included brain…
