scholarly journals Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1181-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland R Griffiths ◽  
Matthew W Johnson ◽  
Michael A Carducci ◽  
Annie Umbricht ◽  
William A Richards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Depressed Mood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Clinically Significant

Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin may decrease depression and anxiety in cancer patients. The effects of psilocybin were studied in 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. This randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial investigated the effects of a very low (placebo-like) dose (1 or 3 mg/70 kg) vs. a high dose (22 or 30 mg/70 kg) of psilocybin administered in counterbalanced sequence with 5 weeks between sessions and a 6-month follow-up. Instructions to participants and staff minimized expectancy effects. Participants, staff, and community observers rated participant moods, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the study. High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety. Participants attributed improvements in attitudes about life/self, mood, relationships, and spirituality to the high-dose experience, with >80% endorsing moderately or greater increased well-being/life satisfaction. Community observer ratings showed corresponding changes. Mystical-type psilocybin experience on session day mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on therapeutic outcomes. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00465595

EMDR for Survivors of Life-Threatening Cardiac Events: Results of a Pilot Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele Arabia ◽  
Maria Luisa Manca ◽  
Roger M. Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Cardiac Event ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Cardiac Events ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
Better Than

This pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and concomitant depressive and anxiety symptoms in survivors of life-threatening cardiac events. Forty-two patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation who (a) qualified for the PTSD criterion “A” in relation to a cardiac event and (b) presented clinically significant PTSD symptoms were randomized to a 4-week treatment of EMDR or imaginal exposure (IE). Data were gathered on PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 6-month follow-up. EMDR was effective in reducing PTSD, depressive, and anxiety symptoms and performed significantly better than IE for all variables. These findings provide preliminary support for EMDR as an effective treatment for the symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety that can follow a life-threatening cardiac event.

Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for psychiatric and existential distress in patients with life-threatening cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle I Agin-Liebes ◽  
Tara Malone ◽  
Matthew M Yalch ◽  
Sarah E Mennenga ◽  
K Linnae Ponté ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Dose ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychiatric Distress ◽  
Existential Distress ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Clinically Significant

Background: A recently published randomized controlled trial compared single-dose psilocybin with single-dose niacin in conjunction with psychotherapy in participants with cancer-related psychiatric distress. Results suggested that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy facilitated improvements in psychiatric and existential distress, quality of life, and spiritual well-being up to seven weeks prior to the crossover. At the 6.5-month follow-up, after the crossover, 60–80% of participants continued to meet criteria for clinically significant antidepressant or anxiolytic responses. Methods: The present study is a long-term within-subjects follow-up analysis of self-reported symptomatology involving a subset of participants that completed the parent trial. All 16 participants who were still alive were contacted, and 15 participants agreed to participate at an average of 3.2 and 4.5 years following psilocybin administration. Results: Reductions in anxiety, depression, hopelessness, demoralization, and death anxiety were sustained at the first and second follow-ups. Within-group effect sizes were large. At the second (4.5 year) follow-up approximately 60–80% of participants met criteria for clinically significant antidepressant or anxiolytic responses. Participants overwhelmingly (71–100%) attributed positive life changes to the psilocybin-assisted therapy experience and rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives. Conclusion: These findings suggest that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy holds promise in promoting long-term relief from cancer-related psychiatric distress. Limited conclusions, however, can be drawn regarding the efficacy of this therapy due to the crossover design of the parent study. Nonetheless, the present study adds to the emerging literature base suggesting that psilocybin-facilitated therapy may enhance the psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being of patients with life-threatening cancer.

scholarly journals One-year outcomes of a therapist-supported, smartphone-based intervention for elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Economides ◽  
Kristian Ranta ◽  
Albert Nazander ◽  
Outi Hilgert ◽  
philippe goldin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Post Treatment ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Intention To Treat ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
End Of Treatment ◽  
Patient Health ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
One Year

Depression is common and severely impacts physical, psychological and social functioning. To address access barriers to care, we developed Ascend - a smartphone-delivered, therapist-supported, 8-week intervention based on several evidence-based psychological treatments for depression and anxiety. We examined whether the previously-reported, end-of-treatment improvements among 102 adults with elevated symptoms of depression extended up to 12 months post-treatment for depression symptoms (measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9]), and up to 6 months post-treatment for anxiety symptoms (added to the intervention later, and measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale [GAD-7]). An intention-to-treat analysis showed that participants maintained clinically significant improvements in depression (mean PHQ-9 reduction=6.67, Hedges’ g = 1.14 [0.78 to 1.49]) and in anxiety (mean GAD-7 reduction=4.26, Hedges’ g = 0.91 [0.54 to 1.28]) at follow-up. Also, 60% of participants above the cutoff for major depression at baseline (PHQ ≥ 10) experienced ≥ 50% reduction in PHQ-9 score and had PHQ-9 < 10 at follow-up. Future randomized trials are warranted to test Ascend as a scalable solution to the treatment of depression and/or symptoms of anxiety.

scholarly journals What Lies Beneath: Exploring Different Depressive Symptoms Across Selected Risk Factors in Icelandic Team Sport Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-79
Author(s):  
Richard Tahtinen ◽  
Hafrun Kristjansdottir ◽  
Daniel T. Olason ◽  
Robert Morris
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Depressed Mood ◽  
Team Sport ◽  
Depressive Symptomology ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Patient Health ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
Core Symptoms ◽  
Specific Symptoms

The aim of the study was to explore the prevalence of specific symptoms of depression in athletes and to test differences in the likelihood of athletes exhibiting these symptoms across age, sex, type of team sport, and level of competition. A sample of Icelandic male and female team sport athletes (N = 894, 18–42 years) was included in the study. Of the athletes exhibiting clinically significant depressive symptoms on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, 37.5% did not exhibit core symptoms of depression. Compared with males, females were significantly more likely to exhibit depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness/guilt, and problems with sleep, fatigue, appetite, and concentration. Within males, differences were mostly related to neurovegetative aspects of depression (sleep and appetite), whereas in females, differences were related to cognitive/emotional aspects (e.g., depressed mood, guilt/worthlessness). The findings underline the importance of exploring specific symptoms of depression to provide a richer understanding of depressive symptomology in athletes.

Effectiveness of Prompt Mental Health Care: Preliminary results from a randomized controlled trial

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Knapstad ◽  
L V Lervik ◽  
S M M Saether ◽  
L E Aaroe ◽  
O R F Smith
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Randomized Controlled

Abstract Background Prompt Mental Health Care (PMHC) service is a Norwegian initiative, adapted from the English ‘Improved Access to Psychological Therapy’ (IAPT), aimed at improving access to primary care treatment for anxiety and depression. Thus far, both PMHC and IAPT have been evaluated by cohort studies only. Albeit yielding promising results, the extent to which these are attributable to the treatment thus remains unsettled. This study investigates the effectiveness of PMHC compared to treatment as usual (TAU) at six months follow-up. Methods Randomized controlled trial with parallel assignment in two PMHC sites from November 2015 to March 2018. Participants were 681 adults (aged ≥18 years) considered for admission to PMHC due to anxiety and/or mild to moderate depression. These were randomly assigned on a 70:30 ratio. Main outcomes were recovery rates and changes in symptoms of depression and anxiety between baseline and follow-up. Primary outcome data were available for 73%/67% in the PMHC/TAU group. Sensitivity analyses based on observed patterns of missingness were conducted. Results A reliable recovery rate of 58.5% was observed in the PMHC group and 31.9% in the TAU group, yielding a between-group effect size (ES) of 0.61 [95% CI 0.37-0.85, p<.001]. The differences in degree of improvement between PMHC and TAU yielded an ES of -0.88 [95% CI -1.23-0.43, p < 0.001] for symptoms of depression and -0.60 [95% CI -0.90-0.30, p < 0.001] for symptoms of anxiety in favour of PMHC. All sensitivity analyses pointed in the same direction with small variations in point estimates. Findings were slightly more robust for depressive than anxiety symptoms. Conclusions The PMHC treatment was substantially more effective than TAU in alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression. This adaptation of IAPT is considered a viable supplement to existing health services to increase access of effective treatment for adults who suffer from anxiety and mild to moderate depression. Key messages This study is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of an IAPT-like treatment model in terms of a randomized controlled trial. Prompt Mental Health Care was substantially more effective than TAU in alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety at 6-months follow-up.

scholarly journals Religious Coping, Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety, and Well-Being Among Somali College Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunice M. Areba ◽  
Laura Duckett ◽  
Cheryl Robertson ◽  
Kay Savik
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Religious Coping ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression

Prevalence and association of discrimination and bullying and the impact on mental health in an occupational setting

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Stratton ◽  
Michael J. Player ◽  
Ariane Dahlheimer ◽  
Isabella Choi ◽  
Nicholas Glozier
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Occupational Setting ◽  
Male Dominated ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

PurposeDiscrimination and bullying contribute to mental ill-health in the workplace. At face value, they would seem linked but are often dealt with by different legislations. Workplace studies generally focus on bullying and population studies on discrimination. The authors aimed to evaluate the prevalence and relationship of discrimination and bullying in a male-dominated workforce, associated factors and relative impact on mental ill-health.Design/methodology/approachAn online cohort survey was conducted amongst employees of an Australian mining company, measuring discrimination, bullying, demographics and workplace and health factors over two months. Cross-sectional and prospective analyses assessed the prevalence of each, their association and their effects on depression and anxiety.FindingsA total of 580 employees (82% male) participated. There was no association between workplace bullying (n = 56, 9.7%) and discrimination (n = 160, 27.6%). Discrimination, but not bullying, was associated with higher depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation and lower well-being and resilience. After controlling for demographic, workplace and health and well-being factors, depression had the main effect on discrimination ß = 0.39, p = 0.003. Discrimination predicted an increase in depression scores at follow-up F (1, 129) = 4.88, p = 0.029.Originality/valueIn this male-dominated industry, discrimination was more prevalent than bullying. Discrimination, but not bullying, was associated with poorer mental health both cross sectionally and prospectively. Supporting the need to assess and manage discrimination and bullying in the workplace independently and the need for interventions to reduce a broader range of adverse interpersonal behaviours.

scholarly journals Psychological correlates and binge drinking behaviours among Canadian youth: a cross-sectional analysis of the mental health pilot data from the COMPASS study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. e028558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Butler ◽  
Isabella Romano ◽  
Karen Patte ◽  
Mark A Ferro ◽  
Margaret de Groh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Binge Drinking ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Canadian Youth

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to examine associations between depression, anxiety and binge drinking among a large sample of Canadian youth, while testing the moderating effect of flourishing. This research uses data from the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, Sedentary Behaviour (COMPASS) study (2012–2021) with a large sample size collecting data on youth health behaviours within Canadian secondary schools.DesignCross-sectionalSetting14 secondary schools across Ontario and British Columbia, Canada.ParticipantsA sample of grade 9–12 students (n=6570) who participated in the Mental Health pilot of the COMPASS studyPrimary and secondary outcome measuresSelf-reported questionnaires assessed student binge drinking behaviours (5≥drinks), symptoms of depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Revised)−10 scores≥10) and anxiety (Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale scores≥10), and flourishing (Diener’s Flourishing Scale: 8–40).ResultsIn our sample of 6570 students, 37.0% of students reported binge drinking in the last year, and 41.4% and 31.7% of students report clinically-relevant symptoms of depression and anxiety, respectively. Anxiety (adjusted OR (AOR): 0.57, (99% CI 0.15 to 2.22)) and depression (AOR: 1.98, (99% CI 0.76 to 5.13)) symptoms were not found to be associated with binge drinking and we did not detect any moderating role of flourishing. Rather, factors that were associated with increased odds of binge drinking included sports team participation (AOR: 1.67, (99% CI 1.37 to 2.03)) and use of other substances (tobacco (AOR: 3.00, (99% CI 2.12 to 4.25)) and cannabis (AOR: 7.76, (99% CI 6.36 to 9.46))). Similar associations were found for frequency of binge drinking.ConclusionsConsistent with existing literature, binge drinking behaviours were problematic, as well as clinically-relevant symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, mental health problems and well-being may not be responsible for explaining patterns of binge drinking in youth. Targeted intervention efforts towards student athletes and concurrent substance users are necessary for addressing binge drinking in youth populations.

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