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.
Researchers are studying many kinds of “other” treatments for mental health. These include short, fast-acting psychedelics (like 5‑MeO‑DMT and DMT/ayahuasca), new drugs that aim to rewire the brain without strong trips (called non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens), traditional plant medicines used by healers, and new synthetic drugs that appear on the market. Studies range from lab work and single-case reports to small clinical trials and systematic reviews, so the evidence is mixed in size and quality (15122, 15082, 15077, 15118, 15099). Some results look promising. Several reports find short-term drops in depression, suicidal thinking, or alcohol use after psychedelic experiences, and laboratory work suggests these drugs can change brain activity and help the brain form new connections. But there are real risks, such as drug-induced hallucinations and a rare condition called HPPD (long-lasting changes in perception). Many findings are early, small, or inconsistent, and experts disagree about whether the intense, subjective experience of a psychedelic is needed for benefit (15093, 15122, 15082, 15080, 15097, 15077).
Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder, or HPPD, is a rare condition tied to using hallucinogenic drugs. People with HPPD keep having changes in how they see things after the drug wears off. It is diagnosed more often in people who already had mental health problems or problems with drug use, but…
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…
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…
Researchers looked at sixty studies to see how biology, social life, and psychology mix together to affect substance use problems and mental health. They found that brain systems, genes, childhood experiences, parenting, personality, and existing mood or anxiety problems all interact. This makes addiction and related psychiatric symptoms complicated, especially…
Researchers looked at studies on mindfulness training and psychedelic-assisted therapy. They found both can reduce mental-health symptoms and boost well-being. Early results also show that psychedelics can make people more mindful. Combining the two might give stronger benefits, but the evidence is still early. Bigger and better studies are needed…
This paper reviews what medicines have been tested to treat methamphetamine use disorder in animals and people. The authors say there are still no approved drugs that reliably cut cravings or help people stop using meth. Some medicines helped in animal tests but did not lower meth use in people,…
Researchers reported a single case where a traditional Amazonian healer gave a weeklong, ritual treatment that included drinking a liquid made from the native tobacco plant. The patient was a 37-year-old woman with diagnosed low mood, anxiety, and attention problems plus a long-term physical health issue. The team used both…
Researchers interviewed 50 traditional medicine practitioners in a rural district of southwestern Uganda to record which plants they use to treat problems linked to drinking alcohol. They found 25 different plant species and clear patterns in how healers prepare and give these remedies, for example using leaves and drying plants…
This paper is a first look at whether the fast-acting psychedelic 5‑MeO‑DMT might help people with alcohol use disorder. The authors reviewed existing studies in humans and animals and found early signs that 5‑MeO‑DMT can cause intense mystical feelings and a loss of self-boundaries, and that it changes brain rhythms…
Researchers tested a type of artificial intelligence that reads doctors' notes to find how severe different substance use problems are. They used an open-source AI model called Flan-T5 and gave it carefully written instructions so it could find severity details without extra training. The AI found more of these severity…
Researchers looked through past studies to see how drugs and poisons in a dead body change how insects grow. They followed a standard process for reviewing studies called PRISMA. Overall, they found that common drugs like morphine, heroin, other opiates, and cocaine usually do not change the time from a…
This review explains how certain psychoactive drugs can cause hallucinations and why that matters. It says drugs such as psilocybin and LSD change brain chemicals called serotonin and dopamine, and that can make people see or hear things that are not there. Effects can be mild or very serious, sometimes…
