A Rapid Review of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the Context of Palliative Care.
Megan Miller, Molly Meyers, Annona Martin and 4 others
PMID 40042324WHAT IT FOUND
Psychedelic-assisted therapy was reported to reduce depression, anxiety, hopelessness, death anxiety, demoralization, and existential distress in reviewed palliative care studies, and to improve spiritual well-being and quality of life.
No serious adverse events were reported, but one participant worsened.
Key findings
01PAT yielded rapid and sustained reductions in depression, anxiety, hopelessness, death anxiety, demoralization, and existential distress, and improvements in spiritual well-being and overall quality of life.
02No serious adverse events were reported across studies, but one participant across studies reported major worsening of psychosocial-spiritual-existential symptoms.
03PAT administration involved participant screening, informed consent, 1 to 3 preparation sessions, supervised psychedelic sessions, and 1 to 7 postsession integration sessions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Most included publications were reviews, commentaries, protocols, or gray literature rather than controlled trials. Participants were mostly female, White, highly educated, and facing cancer diagnoses, so results may not apply to broader palliative populations. PAT was delivered mainly in clinical trials where sessions were provided free, so cost, staffing, and routine care feasibility remain unclear. Safety findings came from carefully screened trial populations, so generalizability is unclear. The review did not resolve how to provide PAT equitably within resource-limited palliative care systems.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not state author conflicts of interest. Funding information was available for 14 included publications and was primarily from nonfederal sources, including private donations.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that psychedelic-assisted therapy is ready for routine palliative care. The evidence came mainly from controlled trial settings with carefully selected participants, and the review included many commentaries rather than trials. Session costs were often covered by study protocols, so routine cost and staffing are unknown. One participant had major worsening.