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.
8 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 review says adult ADHD affects about 2.5% of adults and often occurs with other mental health problems. Adults with ADHD commonly have trouble with attention, memory, planning, self-control, and emotions. The condition is often missed or undertreated, is linked with big personal and social problems, and the evidence on…
The article describes “high functioning anxiety” as a way some people with anxiety symptoms talk about their experience, not as an official medical diagnosis. It says people can look successful and cope outwardly while having common anxiety symptoms, and that diagnosis can be hard because the symptom effects may be…
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…
This 2019 systematic review looked at human studies of medicinal cannabis and cannabis-derived isolates for major psychiatric disorders. The authors found that the evidence is very new and limited, so it is too early to recommend cannabis medicines for psychiatric conditions. Some small or isolated studies suggest benefits for a…
This population study used Taiwan's national health insurance records to compare adults with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) to matched people without IDA from 2000–2013. After adjusting for other factors, people with IDA had a higher risk of being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders (adjusted hazard ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.45–1.59). The…
This review looked at human studies up to July 2020 about THC (the main psychoactive part of Cannabis) and its effects on fear-related memories and anxiety. The authors report that low doses of THC can speed up extinction of aversive memories and lower anxiety in people, and that combining THC…
This paper reported a small, randomized trial of 64 people with treatment-resistant major depression who were given a single intravenous dose of ketamine or a saline placebo. The authors said depression and suicidal thoughts dropped quickly — within an hour — and that benefits lasted up to two months, but…
This study asked 452 outpatients in Türkiye who had used one antidepressant for at least one month about sexual problems. Using a standard questionnaire, researchers found very high rates of self-reported sexual dysfunction: 88.7% of women and 84.5% of men. Women taking bupropion reported lower levels of sexual dysfunction than…
