Screening, assessment, evaluation and psychological/psychiatric interviewing

Psychedelics are hallucinogenic drugs that alter the state of consciousness substantially. They bring about psychological, auditory, and visual changes. The psychedelics act on the brain, implying that they have a powerful psychological impact. One of the main factors contributing to disability worldwide is pain. The majority of people deal with pain on a daily basis. Living with chronic pain affects daily life and has social implications. Chronic pain can be associated with any disease that may be genetic, idiopathic, or traumatic...

Opioids are widely prescribed for moderate to severe pain in patients with acute illness, cancer pain, and chronic noncancer pain. However, long-term opioid use can cause opioid tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH), contributing to the opioid misuse and addiction crisis. Strategies to mitigate opioid tolerance and OIH are needed to reduce opioid use and its sequelae. Currently, there are few effective pharmacological strategies that reduce opioid tolerance and OIH. The intrinsic tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB) ligand, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), has been shown to modulate pain...

The excitatory neurotransmission of the central nervous system (CNS) mainly involves glutamate and its receptors, especially N-methyl-D-Aspartate receptors (NMDARs). These receptors have been extensively described on neurons and, more recently, also on other cell types. Nowadays, the study of their differential expression and function is taking a growing place in preclinical and clinical research. The diversity of NMDAR subtypes and their signaling pathways give rise to pleiotropic functions such as brain development, neuronal plasticity, maturation along with excitotoxicity, blood-brain barrier integrity, and inflammation...

Understanding the risks for substance use disorders (SUDs) and how to diagnose and treat is essential to the safe and effective treatment of patients with chronic noncancer pain (CNCP). Because of the common neurologic pathways underlying addiction and chronic pain and common comorbid mental health and psychosocial challenges, these conditions should be treated concurrently. Depending on setting and comfort level of the provider, primary care clinicians may have the resources to provide office-based treatment or may consider referral to specialty treatment...

Addiction is a complex multifactorial condition. Established genetic factors can provide clear guidance in assessing the risk of addiction to substances and behaviors. Chronic stress can accumulate, forming difficult to recognize addiction patterns from both genetic and epigenetic (environmental) factors. Furthermore, psychological/physical/chemical stressors are typically categorized linearly, delaying identification and treatment. The patient in this case report is a Caucasian female, aged 36, who presented with chronic pain and partial disability following a surgically repaired trimalleolar fracture...

BACKGROUND: Alcohol-induced hangover represents a significant, yet understudied, global hazard and a large socioeconomic burden. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of hydrogen on relieving drinking and hangover symptoms in 20 healthy volunteers. METHODS: In this pilot, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, matched, crossover interventional trial, participants were matched into pairs and randomly assigned...

The field of psychedelic research is undergoing a revival, yet research focused on non-clinical psychedelic use remains relatively limited. The current qualitative study sheds light on how people use magic mushrooms, what they perceive the effects of such use to be, and the meanings that users attach to their magic mushroom experiences. To be eligible to participate in the study, participants were required to be young adults who had used magic mushrooms within the past three months and residents of Victoria, Canada...

Promising outcomes of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy (PAT) for depression have generated concerted efforts to replicate, extend, and refine protocols to maximize efficacy. Psychotherapy research reveals that clients benefit most when important components of treatment align with their personal preferences. One open question related to PAT concerns the importance of the psilocybin experience of the guides (trained professionals present during acute effects). We sought to assess the importance of a guide who had used psilocybin to potential clients with depressive symptoms...

Background Opioid use disorder (OUD), a relapsing-remitting chronic medical disease, accounts for a sizable proportion of all-cause adult inpatient stays. We evaluated the incidence and predictors of any and multiple readmissions to inpatient care for OUD. Methods This retrospective, register-based cohort study assessed consecutive patients with OUD admitted to a federally-funded inpatient service of an addiction treatment center in North India between January 2007 and December 2014. Binary logistic regression was used to determine independent readmission predictors based on demographic, clinical, and treatment variables that significantly differed in bivariate analysis...

Both psychedelics and mindfulness are recently emerging topics of interest in academia and popular culture. The Prevalence of personal meditation practices and recreational psychedelic use has consistently increased in the past decade. While clinical work has shown both to improve long-term wellbeing, data on naturalistic applications of psychedelics and mindfulness are lacking. The current study examined the relationship between psychedelic use, mindfulness, and multi-faceted wellbeing as an outcome. Hierarchical regression was used to quantify these associations on a sample of people (N = 1,219) who engage in both meditation practices and psychedelic use...

The current article presents a mixed qualitative-quantitative observational study of the effect of ayahuasca ritual on subjective experiences and personality traits on participants of a center specialized in the treatment of substance use disorder in Uruguay. When comparing the psychological traits of ayahuasca participants to a control group, quantitative results using the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire showed statistically significant higher scores in Impulsive Sensation Seeking, Boredom Susceptibility, and Social Warmth scales...

Social inequities made some sociodemographic groups - including those of older age, minoritized race/ethnicity, and low socioeconomic status - disproportionately vulnerable to morbidity and mortality associated with the opioid epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic. Given shared vulnerability to these public health crises, it is critical to understand how COVID-19 impacts substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery among people with these characteristics. The current study examined COVID-19's perceived impact on treatment factors and psychosocial outcomes by sociodemographic vulnerability...

Gamma -hydroxybutyrate (GHB) was a somewhat prevalent club drug two decades ago, but research has been lacking regarding the current epidemiology of use. In this study, prevalence and correlates of past-year GHB use were estimated based on noninstitutionalized US adults participating in the 2015-2020 National Survey of Drug Use and Health ( N = 241,675). An estimated 0.05% (95% CI: 0.04-0.07) of adults in the US have used GHB in the past year. Compared to those age 18-25, those age 35-49 were at increased odds for use (aOR = 2...

There has been a revival of research that studies the subjective effects of psychedelic drugs on humans. Areas of health science have been studying their possible therapeutic benefits, and psychological measurement instruments are being developed as the studies progress. However, these instruments currently suffer criticism regarding their number and evidence of psychometric quality. This study aims to review which psychometric instruments are available to assess subjective states induced by psychedelics. We systematically searched five databases (Web of Science, Academic Search Premier, EMBASE, CINAHL and PubMed) using psychometrics and psychedelics related terms identifying studies published from 1990 to 2021...

Ayahuasca is a plant decoction in traditional Amazonian medicine. Its ritual use has been internationalized, leading to policy challenges that countries should address. This study evaluates the impact of regular ayahuasca ceremony participation on health by assessing the health status of 377 participants in ayahuasca ceremonies in the Netherlands using validated health indicators. A questionnaire was developed and administered to study participants. The questionnaire included several health indicators with public health relevance (e...

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a serious public health problem. Over 3.3 million people worldwide die each year due to alcohol-related causes, which is almost 5.3% of all deaths. This systematic review examines the effectiveness of injectable naltrexone treatment for people with AUD based on randomized clinical trial studies conducted between January 2004 and December 2019. Following PRISMA-P, this review searched PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science for relevant studies. The inclusion criteria were AUD treatment, injectable naltrexone, and randomized clinical trials...

Synthetic cannabinoids (SC) are the most common type of new psychoactive substances used predominantly as a replacement for cannabis. There is a wealth of literature on the negative effects experienced by users of SC. However, there is a paucity of research on the experience of addiction to SC from the users' perspectives. The present study qualitatively explored the experience of addiction to SC. Online blog entries detailing the experience of SC addiction were analyzed using thematic analysis. Users reported being stuck in a cycle of addiction which was composed of addiction hallmarks...

While anecdotal reports claim that psychedelic microdosing reduces anxiety and mood symptoms, evidence supporting these claims is scarce. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between microdosing and trait anxiety. Furthermore, it was investigated if trait mindfulness mediated this association. Participants completed anonymous online questionnaires and were divided into three groups: current microdosers ( n = 186), former microdosers ( n = 77) and microdosing-naïve controls ( n = 234)...

Interest in and availability of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes has increased in recent decades. In a large, anonymous, online survey, we investigated patterns of communication with healthcare providers and awareness and utilization of substance testing kits or services among people using psychedelics naturalistically. The sample population included attendees of a psychedelic activism event and users of psychedelic social media forums. Among 1,435 participants, 72.5% never discussed psychedelic use with their primary care provider (PCP)...

This study sought to investigate the effects of different substances on nature relatedness (NR) in the general population. An online cross-sectional survey done in Brazil investigated use of ayahuasca/DMT, psilocybe mushrooms, LSD, MDMA/ecstasy, cocaine, cannabis, and alcohol. NR was assessed using the short-form version of the nature related scale (NR-6). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess group differences between substance naïve-individuals, past users, and current users of each substance...