QAnxiety

11/12/2025

A few weeks ago, our research team had the pleasure of attending the Canadian Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC. It was an incredible opportunity to learn about the latest and emerging research and treatment modalities being implemented by psychiatrists across Canada. We were also honoured to share our group's work exploring serotonergic psychedelics for treating anxiety symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric conditions at this meeting.

11/08/2025

Great day of learning at the Centre for Psychedelics Health Research (CPHR) Annual Scientific Meeting at Providence Care Hospital.

09/19/2025

New OCD Research Findings:
A recent clinical trial published in the American Journal of Psychiatry by Stern et al., found that ondansetron (an anti-nausea drug) may help reduce OCD symptom severity in patients already taking serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

The study found:
- Participants with OCD who received ondansetron + SRI showed significant reductions in overall OCD severity as well as changes in brain connectivity linked to compulsive behaviours.

- Ondansetron alone was not found to improve OCD symptoms.

- This study highlights the potential of serotonin receptor modulation as strategy for treating treatment-resistant OCD.

For more information see:

Results of a new clinical trial shed light on mechanisms that may give rise to some of the repetitive behaviors experienced in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette’s disorder. The results also add to past evidence suggesting that an FDA-approved medicine called ondansetron, when added ...

09/09/2025

A summary of: Are Psychedelic Agents Ready for Prime Time as Stand-Alone Treatments?

An editorial by: Claudio N. Soares, MD,PhD, MBA
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In the 1950s and 1960s, psychedelic research was a growing field. Low-dose “psycholytic” therapy with L*D was used to help patients lower defences and access deeper emotions in psychotherapy, while higher-dose “psychedelic therapy” aimed to produce transformative, mystical experiences thought to support recovery from depression, anxiety, and even alcoholism. Although early reports were promising, many of these studies lacked rigorous controls, and when stricter trials failed to replicate the results, the field lost credibility and momentum.

Recently research on using psychedelics for mental health has reemerged, but with far more rigorous scientific methodology. A recent randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial by Robison et al., (2025) tested whether psychedelics can function as stand-alone treatments. The trial included 198 adults with moderate-to-severe generalized anxiety disorder, randomized to receive a single dose of pharmaceutical-grade L*D (MM120) at 25 -200 μg doses, or placebo. No psychotherapy was paired with the intervention.
Results were compelling: at 4 weeks, both the 100 μg and 200 μg doses showed significant reductions in anxiety symptoms. At 12 weeks, 65% of patients in the 100 μg group responded, and nearly half achieved remission. Improvements in depressive symptoms were also observed.

While questions remain about long-term durability, dropout rates, and how to integrate such treatments into clinical practice, this is the first trial to show that a psychedelic can produce substantial and lasting reductions in anxiety symptoms without psychotherapy. This marks a turning point in psychedelic science, moving it closer to mainstream psychiatry.

The link to the entire editorial:

If one sought psychological support in the 1950s and 1960s, there was a reasonable chance they would be offered lysergic acid diethylamide (L*D) to facilitate and enhance the depth of the psychotherapeutic experience. That practice became known as a psycholytic approach,1 in which L*D was...