Psychedelic medicine: mechanisms, evidence, and translation to practice
BMJ February 23, 2026 Edward Jacobs, Zarmeen Zahid, Jared Hinkle et al. 5 citations
Psychedelic treatments, particularly psilocybin and MDMA, show promise for psychiatric conditions, with psilocybin having strongest evidence for treatment-resistant depression and MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder. These treatments combine limited drug sessions with psychotherapy, working through neural and psychological pathways that are not fully understood. While well-tolerated under controlled conditions, methodological issues like unblinding and homogeneous trial populations complicate evidence interpretation. Scalability is challenging due to required extensive support, though group administration may help. Future priorities include standardizing adverse event assessment and showing durable benefits in diverse populations.