Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy for Anxiety
Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for Anxiety
Psilocybin-assisted therapy for anxiety has primarily focused on clients with a chronic or serious illness who are experiencing end-of-life anxiety or existential distress which will be discussed in further detail in another module.
MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Anxiety
While there is limited evidence to support MDMA-assisted therapy for anxiety, some areas of focus have been social anxiety, particularly adults with autism. Danforth et al. (2018) found that at the 6-month follow up, the participants displayed positive results for their social anxiety.
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy for Anxiety
There is limited but growing evidence to support ketamine and ketamine-assisted therapies in anxiety spectrum disorders. There are published case reports, case series, and controlled trials demonstrating positive effects and proof of concept. A 2019 review of the literature for ketamine effects on anxiety-spectrum disorders included OCD and PTSD, as the DSM-5 still acknowledges anxiety is a significant component of these conditions (Banov et al., 2019).
Activity
Please read the abstracts of the studies below which focus on ketamine-assisted therapy for anxiety.
Did You Know?
A cross-sectional survey of 2510 adults looked at classic, plant-based psychedelic use and found that psychedelic use was linked to a better emotional wellbeing and a decrease in the symptoms of depression and anxiety. Although improvements were noted after just one use, increased psychedelic exposure increased these improvements with great magnitude (Raison et al., 2022).
References
Banov, M. D., Young, J. R., Dunn, T., & Szabo, S. T. (2019). Efficacy and safety of ketamine in the management of anxiety and anxiety spectrum disorders: a review of the literature. CNS Spectrums, 1–12.
Danforth, A. L., Grob, C. S., … & Emerson, A. (2018). Reduction in social anxiety after MDMA-assisted psychotherapy with autistic adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. Psychopharmacology, 235, 3137-3148.
Raison, C. L., Jain, R., Penn, A. D., Cole, S. P., & Jain, S. (2022). Effects of Naturalistic Psychedelic Use on Depression, Anxiety, and Well-Being: Associations With Patterns of Use, Reported Harms, and Transformative Mental States. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13.