This trend is likely to continue as the public’s awareness of psychedelics’ therapeutic potential grows, even though it is likely to be some years until they may be approved as medicines (McCartney et al., 2022; Muthukumaraswamy et al., 2022). Even if licensed psychedelic therapy was to become widely accessible, self-treatment may be preferred by some who are sceptical of westernised psychedelic therapy models or those simply preferring the freedom of choosing their dose, environment and company. Research on illicit drugs is largely focused on epidemiological data and on etic more than emic perspectives. To understand people`s experiences with psychoactive substances by their own words is absolutely crucial to produce useful knowledge when it comes to design harm reduction strategies or to address possible clinical potential. Besides that, the manuscript is clear for both expert and non-expert publics, well organised and well written.
The items were created by the GDS research team, based on discussions with a group of psychedelic researchers, clinicians involved in psychedelic treatment delivery and psychiatrists; and a review of the literature. No psychometric testing was used for the construction of the scale, that is validity of the items was not established. This study brings important insights into self-treatment practices with psychedelics in a large international sample. Outcomes were generally favourable, but negative effects appeared more frequent than in clinical settings. Our findings can help inform safe practices of psychedelic use in the community, and inspire clinical research.
Poly-substance use and psilocybin dose
The textual data were obtained from reports manually extracted from the EROWID website, which is a database dedicated to reporting on psychoactive substances and documenting actual reports of users. Users visit sites exclusively devoted to the storage and dissemination of information about psychoactive substances, and these sites provide an opportunity for real-time evaluation of emerging drug trends. Two weeks post-dosing, Zakara continued to self-reported negative outcomes of psilocybin users: a quantitative textual analysis pmc struggle, although she started making changes to her daily life. She joined a fitness club and reported that her suicidal thoughts were less constant. By 6 weeks post-dosing, Zakara was able to do all her usual work and activities (such as seeing friends and exercising) despite her low mood. She was looking to change to a more fulfilling job and felt that her concentration on things that she enjoyed was better than before dosing, suggesting some functional improvement despite MADRS scores remaining high.
For substances such as dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline, and psilocybin, this is paradoxical considering that their traditional use emerged in developing regions, particularly in Latin America. In the case of ayahuasca, in particular, its religious use is legally protected in Brazil, and the considerable number of users reinforces the need for more research into its effects. Further research conducted in developing regions is important not only to address these social needs, but also to investigate the extent to which the effects of psychedelics are universal. This paper investigated the risk indicators in maritime accidents and how they are considered within the reporting of maritime accidents, drawing on ten years of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) (2011–2020) accident reports. It highlighted the lack of consistent findings in studies exploring the role of vessel characteristics in maritime accidents, which often result from different methods, databases, techniques and motivations used by each respective study for gathering and analysing data.
- Although infrequent, the possibility of suicidality, prolonged paranoia, and persistent visual perceptual effects should be monitored over the long term.
- The texts were grouped in 5 clusters, describing the content of mental experiences, cognitive processes, somatic experiences, perceptual alterations, and context of administration.
- Despite the difficulties encountered and the participant’s limited improvement on rating scales, she found the experience to have been helpful and led her to make changes to her life which she found beneficial.
- It is therefore recommended that managing expectation and providing information on possible outcomes following psilocybin therapy is well covered in the preparation phase.
Sample
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- Epidemiological data show that depression affects more than 300 million people worldwide8.
- Responses of persons with BD to mushrooms containing psilocybin vary significantly.
- It may indicate a sensory-perceptive integration of experience, with the association between “look” and “reality” or “look” and “understand”.
Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms”, has been investigated in relation to its medicinal properties, in particular for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression (TRD) 5, with suggestions that psychedelic research may lead to a paradigm shift in psychiatry 6, 7. Psilocybin has also shown potential clinical benefits for depression and anxiety in end-stage cancer 8, possibly with reductions in death anxiety underpinning its therapeutic effects 9. Although psilocybin is considered a toxicologically safe substance 10–12, there is no scientific consensus on the risks that the use of psilocybin may bring 13.
Treatment outcomes: Predictors
Researchers MD and MP next coded three transcripts independently before meeting to establish a shared understanding of meaning 51. MD and MP met at regular intervals to engage in the self-reflexive and iterative process of thematic analysis by (1) becoming familiar with the findings, (2) generating initial codes, (3) searching for themes, (4) reviewing themes, (5) defining themes, and (6) writing-up the results 52, 53. MD and MP engaged in a continual familiarization process with the data that involved reading and re-reading transcripts individually, meeting weekly for discussion, and meeting monthly for review with the broader team. Our findings demonstrate both benefits and risks of psilocybin use in this population. Carefully designed clinical trials focused on safety and preliminary efficacy are warranted. Following an international survey (Phase I), follow-up interviews were conducted with 15 respondents (Phase II) to further understand psilocybin use among adults with BD.
Sample characteristics
The specificities analysis, indicating the index of co-occurrence between the words, can be seen in Fig 4 (cluster1), Fig 5 (cluster2), Fig 6 (cluster 3) and Fig 7 (cluster 4). Study states overall sample size of 29 completing; however, a sample size of 28 (experimental) and 27 (control) was used in meta-analysis per data presented in Figure 1 for data obtained. The specificities analysis, indicating the index of co-occurrence between the words, can be seen in Fig.
Data Availability Statement
For the purposes of this analysis, to ease interpretation of data and avoid too small Ns within groups resulting in low power, the original 12 categories of the dependent variable were reduced to three; up to 7 days; 1 –4 weeks; and 1 month or more. Predictive variables included in the model were the same as in the multiple linear regression model. It is advertised on social networking sites in collaboration with media partners and harm reduction organisations.
Specifically for ayahuasca consumption, set and setting features may contribute positively to users’ acute experiences, with better mental health outcomes and increased well-being16. One way of exploring directly the effects of set is to have studies recruiting participants with and without clinical disorders, allowing the comparison of their subjective experiences. The promising research on psilocybin’s healing potential has given the substancepositive visibility in the media in recent years. In experimental settings, withcomprehensive participant screenings, carefully measured doses and supporting dosingenvironments, adverse reactions are indeed rare and outcomes generally positive(Rucker et al.,2018). Concerns have been raised that positive recovery stories might notonly encourage psychedelic use but simultaneously overshadow information on safetyprecautions with potentially detrimental consequences (see the studies by Carhart-Harris et al.,2018; Yaden et al.,2021). An alarming example came from a recent report of a man withbipolar disorder who, inspired by reports of psychedelics’ therapeutic effects,injected homemade magic mushroom solution intravenously in an attempt to treat hisdepression, subsequently developing a multi-organ failure and spending 8 days inintensive care (Giancola etal., 2021).
A quantitative textual analysis of the subjective effects of ayahuasca in naïve users with and without depression