Soins; la revue de reference infirmiereSep 11, 2026

How antidepressants, psychedelics, and talk therapies work in real-life mental health treatment

Psychedelic Science Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Sep 12, 2026

Abstract

Therapeutic opacity may complicate the attribution of improvement to specific treatments in mental health care.

Many clinical studies differ significantly from routine clinical practice, raising questions about their ecological validity.
The effectiveness of treatments like antidepressants, psychedelics, and psychotherapies may be influenced by contextual and relational factors.
Individual trajectories in mental health care are important in understanding therapeutic outcomes.

Simplified

In mental health care, attributing improvement to a specific treatment often remains difficult, a phenomenon that we propose to describe here as "therapeutic opacity." Moreover, the conditions under which many clinical studies are conducted often differ substantially from those of routine clinical practice, raising questions about their ecological validity. Drawing on debates surrounding antidepressants, psychedelics, and psychotherapies, this article argues for an approach to care that takes into account the contexts, individual trajectories, and relational factors that shape therapeutic outcomes.

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How antidepressants, psychedelics, and talk therapies work in real-life mental health treatment

Abstract

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