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Interest in psychedelics has increased these last few years after numerous studies found that the drugs may possess therapeutic benefits. For instance, studies have found that ketamine could help reduce symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder while managing suicidal ideation.
Studies also found that psilocybin could help manage symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Now new research has investigated the role that psychedelic trips play in healing, with a focus on psilocybin and ketamine. These drugs often induce profound subjective experiences when consumed, with scientists positing that these experiences may contribute to their therapeutic effects.
To explore the link between therapeutic outcomes and the subjective effects of psychedelics, the investigators carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis involving data obtained from electronic databases like EMBASE, Web of Science, and PubMed.
They focused on studies involving the use of psilocybin and ketamine in treating substance use disorder and depression. In total, the investigators reviewed twenty-three studies, eight of which focused on psilocybin.
The subjective effects of the psychedelics used in these studies were measured using different tools, including the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale, which centered on ketamine’s effects.
Their meta-analysis revealed that subjective effects had a limited influence on therapeutic improvements in disorders like substance use and depression, with psilocybin’s impact being a bit stronger than that of ketamine. Based on this, the investigators suggested that the subjective effects induced by psilocybin could be more directly associated with its therapeutic benefits as compared to ketamine’s dissociative effects.
They also observed differences between the conditions being treated, noting that in both psilocybin and ketamine studies, the correlation between therapeutic outcomes and subjective effects was stronger for substance use disorder than for depression.
In substance use disorder treatments, the subjective effects accounted for 60% therapeutic improvement for psilocybin and 54% for ketamine. This suggests that the perceptual and psychological changes caused by these drugs play a more substantial role in treating substance use disorder, in comparison to depression.
In their report, they suggested that these psychedelic experiences may play a modest but not insignificant role in the effectiveness of psychedelic therapies.
The investigators also discussed some limitations in their study, which included the fact that their analysis was based on a small number of studies. This, they explained, limited generalizability of their findings. They also collated correlated coefficients, which made it hard to determine causality.
The investigators reported their findings in npj Mental Health Research. Authors of the study included Albert Dahan, Tijmen Bostoen, David Dadiomov, and Jack D. C. Dahan.
As further information becomes available from psychedelic industry entities like Mind Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: MNMD) (NEO: MMED) (DE: MMQ) in the course of conducting their R&D activities, the role that psychedelic trips play in healing is likely to become clearer.
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