CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 256Psychedelics and Drug StudiesTreatment of Major DepressionReligion, Spirituality, and Psychology

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 126 of the 127 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Classical psychedelics for the treatment of depression and anxiety: A systematic review

Muttoni, Silvia, Ardissino, Maddalena, John, Christopher·2019·Journal of Affective Disorders
DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2019.07.076
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Background Depression and anxiety are prevalent psychiatric disorders that carry significant morbidity. Pharmacological and psychosocial interventions are used to manage these conditions, but their efficacy is limited. Recent interest into the use of psychedelic-assisted therapy using ayahuasca, psilocybin or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) may be a promising alternative for patients unresponsive to traditional treatments. This review aims to determine the efficacy and tolerability of psychedelics in the management of resistant depression.Methods Clinical trials investigating psychedelics in patients with depression and/or anxiety were searched via MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsychINFO. Efficacy was assessed by measuring symptom improvement from baseline, and tolerability was evaluated by noting the incidence and type of adverse effects reported. Risk of bias was assessed.Results Seven studies, with 130 patients, were analysed in this review. Three were conducted in patients with depression, two in patients with anxiety and two in patients with both. In a supportive setting, ayahuasca, psilocybin, and LSD consistently produced immediate and significant anti-depressant and anxiolytic effects that were endured for several months. Psychedelics were well-tolerated. The most common adverse effects were transient anxiety, short-lived headaches, nausea and mild increases in heart rate and blood pressure.Limitations At present, the number of studies on this subject is very limited; and the number of participating patients within these is also limited as the treatment under investigations is a relatively novel concept.Conclusions Though further evidence is required, psychedelics appear to be effective in significantly reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety and are well-tolerated.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.jad.2019.07.076

Cites

126 of 126 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Fava, 2003, 53, 649
  2. Mcintyre, 2004, Young mania rating scale (YMRS), Can. J. Clin. Pharmacol., 11
  3. Johnson, 2008, Human hallucinogen research: guidelines for safety, J. Psychopharmacol., 22, 603, 10.1177/0269881108093587 · DOI · Paper page

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 256

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Muttoni, S., Ardissino, M., & John, C.
Affiliations
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (GB)
Corresponding author
Ardissino, Maddalena
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Affective Disorders
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-11
Volume
258
Pages
11-24
ISSN
0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jad.2019.07.076
OpenAlex
W2964775179
Cited by
256
References
127
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 67 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 2
FWCI
3.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
Keywords
psychedelics, psychedelic therapy, depression, anxiety, treatment-resistant depression, ayahuasca, psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, treatment efficacy, tolerability, adverse effects
MeSH terms
Adult, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Female, Hallucinogens, Humans, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, Psilocybin

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review