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Rethinking placebo-controlled clinical trials in psychedelic therapies for psychiatric illness.

Br J Psychiatry July 21, 2025 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.2025.51 via PubMed

Summary

AI-generated from the abstract

The authors argue that standard placebo-controlled trial designs are poorly suited to psychedelic therapies because the intense subjective effects of psychedelics make blinding nearly impossible and may introduce confounding expectations. They propose alternative methodological approaches, such as active placebo controls, comparative effectiveness designs, and pragmatic trials, to better evaluate the efficacy and safety of psychedelic-assisted treatments for psychiatric conditions.

Study at a glance

Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Placebo-controlled Peer reviewed
Key finding Standard placebo-controlled trials are inadequate for psychedelic therapies due to unblinding and expectancy effects; alternative trial designs are needed.

Abstract

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