Psychedelic-assisted approaches may help address limits of current PTSD treatments and support more personalized care.
Evidence
This review synthesizes proposed mechanisms, combined-treatment approaches, and response-prediction strategies for ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin, and related PTSD interventions.
Caveat
The abstract presents a conceptual review and does not report new clinical outcomes or validated tools.
Simplified
Novel interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) leverage the psychoactive properties of psychedelic compounds, such as ketamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and psilocybin, which may overcome limitations of conventional treatments. Through the modulation of pathways involved in synaptic plasticity, psychedelic interventions are believed to enhance the mechanisms underlying memory processing and extinction. Multi-modal approaches to patient care can use existing treatments in combination with to improve the efficacy of current psychotherapies, producing rapid and lasting improvement to chronic physiological and psychological symptoms. Modern methods for predicting treatment response will allow clinicians to personalise psychedelic interventions to the individual, capitalising on quantitative evidence to provide precision medical care. This review serves to identify limitations of the current treatment paradigm for PTSD, highlight how emerging psychedelic interventions may offer a solution to these considerations and explore the promise of approaches for the future of PTSD treatment.
Full Text
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3 of 5 authors disclosed current affiliations with Zed3 Medical Group, whose treatment programme includes ReviveMed, centred on ketamine infusion therapy for treatment-resistant PTSD; 1 also holds a paid research-assistant appointment there.
