Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies in Patients With Serious Illness: Opportunities and Challenges
Psychiatric Annals September 1, 2022 Michael Ljuslin, Kabir Nigam, Roxanne Sholevar et al. 4 citations
Anxiety, depression, adjustment disorder, and existential distress in seriously ill people often resist existing medical or behavioral interventions. A growing body of evidence suggests the safety and efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies (PATs) to improve these outcomes. As societal norms around the stigma of psychedelic agents shift, interest in integrating these treatment modalities into serious illness care increases. This article describes aspects of serious illness care that might be amenable to PATs, reviews evidence documenting the safety and efficacy of PATs in serious illness care, and highlights opportunities and challenges moving forward.