Long‑time Applicants Finally See Chance for Rigorous Testing
Been applying to her office and others (eg welcome trust, nimh, arpa) for years asking to test/demonstrate that this isn’t magical thinking or snake oil. Glad to see things might change.
Weekly Psil
Big up Eric et al for driving this: Observing the mind under psychedelics: conceptual metaphors used following four once-weekly macrodoses of psilocybin https://t.co/gPYGMNkep0
Emotional Breakthrough Reaffirms as Top Response Predictor
Pleased to be included in this work. Emotional breakthrough as a strong predictor of response (again): https://t.co/pAPCipfd1U
Restarting SSRIs Improves Outcomes Over Med‑Free Approach
When we published our H2H in @NEJM Ian Jordan raised an excellent letter re SSRI discontinuation & how it might impact response. We looked & found he was right. Those who discontinued SSRIs and went back on (escitalopram) did far...
Study’s Bias: Excluding TAD Nonresponders, Uncontrolled Therapy
Here it is again. Amazing how researchers could get away with this back then. Regular systematic bias of excluding TAD nonresponders. Also note another thing inconsistent with core psychedelic trial period i.e., that Ps were allowed to continue psychotherapy outside...
Escitalopram Yields -16.6 HAM‑D Drop After 8 Weeks
Anyone have a PDF of this? Perhaps there isn't a digital copy... This one showed an impressive -16.6 HAM-D drop with 8 weeks of escitalopram. It would be good to know their methodology. https://t.co/P5GCYcbxjk
Venlafaxine Shows Unexpected -15.2 HAM‑D Drop in TAD Trial
See this for just 1 of the TAD trials from recent @psybalazs and @QuantPsychiatry comparative analysis. 1 of several deck stacks favoring TADs. This trial reported a surprising -15.2 HAM-D drop with venlafaxine. Not so surprising when you look closer......
Expectancy Effects Vary: Present in TAD, Not PAT
I can’t let this point go w’out comment. @psybalazs is first author on work that showed expectancy effects between PAT and a TAD are not uniform. They were operative for the TAD but not PAT. Why isn’t that cited?! https://t.co/kb9wrkAmVb
Blinding Doesn't Affect Psychedelic Trial Outcomes, Study Finds
It follows that if TADs are biased by expectancy, Open Label trials will show better outcomes than blinded. Further, if expectancy is not a strong driver of response to psychedelics, then blinding shouldn’t matter as much. This is what they...
Mid‑session Unblinding Doesn’t Equal Procedural Equivalence
But one set of trials (TAD) were open label and other set of trials (psychedelic) included impt elements of experimental control, procedures like randomization and blinding. Does functional unblinding mid-session justify treating these trials as procedurally equivalent? No.
Comparing Psychedelic Trials to Antidepressants Skews Results
Does it stack the deck in favor of the standard antidepressants to pull data from placebo-controlled trials for one condition (the psychedelic) and compare it with single condition data for the standard antidepressants? Also...
Magic vs Psychology Reflects Ego, Not Primary Consciousness
Magic vs psychology is a modern parse. It is of ego consciousness, not primary consciousness. https://t.co/5GQcFWxsFm
Emotional Breakthrough Outperforms Mystical Experiences in Psychedelic Therapy
Off all the constructs/phenomena that predict therapeutic response with psychedelic therapy, the best is emotional breakthrough (EB). It's not "oceanic boundlessness", it's not "mystical-type experiences," it's EB. Expect more on this soon...
New Study Examines Psychedelic Use–Schizophrenia Connection
Exciting & important new study from my lab. Have you ever wondered how strong that alleged connection is between psychedelic use and #Schizophrenia? This project aims to point the telescope there & give it a focused look. Please share widely. @AlexaM_Molinaro...