VanderZwaag Baeleigh, Garcia-Romeu Albert, Garcia-Barrera Mauricio A
Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, CanadaInstitute on Aging and Lifelong Health, BC, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2024 Aug 7;14:20451253241264812. doi: 10.1177/20451253241264812. eCollection 2024.
Psychedelics are receiving growing interest among clinical researchers for their effects on mood and cognition. Psilocybin is one of the most widely studied classic psychedelics which has shown good safety and clinical benefit for major depression and substance use disorders. Athletes frequently sustain concussions and often experience myriad symptoms, including cognitive and mood issues, which can persist for weeks or months in 10%-30% of athletes. Psilocybin may be a potential symptom management option for athletes with persisting concussion symptoms.
This study sought to summarize athlete psychedelic use, among other substances, and to examine the willingness of the sports community to engage in or support psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) for concussion recovery and management of persisting concussion symptoms.
In total, 175 ( = 85 athletes; = 90 staff) respondents completed an online survey distributed in Canada and the United States which queried sport involvement and demographics, substance use, concussion history, and knowledge and willingness about psilocybin. The reporting of this study conforms to the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES) statement.
Substance use rates were summarized across athletes and team staff members and a path analysis was used for each sample to identify predictors of willingness to use PAT (athletes) or support PAT (staff) for concussion recovery. Participants were also asked to identify perceived barriers to the implementation of PAT for sports-related concussions, and to indicate their overall willingness.
Psychedelics were the third most used substance in the past year among athletes (35.8%) while regular psychedelic use was quite low in athletes (7.5%). A path analysis conducted in RStudio found that attitudes toward psilocybin and knowledge of psilocybin were significant predictors for both athletes and staff members of their willingness to use or support PAT for concussion recovery. Athletes reported likely engaging in PAT (61.2%) and staff (71.1%) reported that they would support their athletes using PAT.
The results of this study suggest that the sports community may be receptive to PAT and athletes would be willing to engage in it for concussion recovery and/or the management of persisting post-concussion symptoms (PPCS). Future research should examine the effects of psilocybin for PPCS to inform whether there is any impact while addressing concerns regarding long-term effects of psilocybin use.
迷幻药因其对情绪和认知的影响而越来越受到临床研究人员的关注。裸盖菇素是研究最为广泛的经典迷幻药之一，已显示出对重度抑郁症和物质使用障碍具有良好的安全性和临床益处。运动员经常遭受脑震荡，且常常出现各种症状，包括认知和情绪问题，在10%-30%的运动员中，这些症状可能会持续数周或数月。裸盖菇素可能是有持续性脑震荡症状的运动员的一种潜在症状管理选择。
本研究旨在总结运动员使用迷幻药及其他物质的情况，并调查体育界参与或支持裸盖菇素辅助疗法（PAT）以促进脑震荡恢复和管理持续性脑震荡症状的意愿。
共有175名受访者（85名运动员；90名工作人员）完成了一项在加拿大和美国分发的在线调查，该调查询问了体育参与情况和人口统计学信息、物质使用情况、脑震荡病史以及关于裸盖菇素的知识和意愿。本研究的报告符合互联网电子调查结果报告清单（CHERRIES）声明。
总结了运动员和团队工作人员的物质使用率，并对每个样本进行路径分析，以确定使用PAT（运动员）或支持PAT（工作人员）促进脑震荡恢复的意愿的预测因素。参与者还被要求指出在与运动相关的脑震荡中实施PAT的感知障碍，并表明他们的总体意愿。
在过去一年中，迷幻药是运动员中使用第三多的物质（35.8%），而经常使用迷幻药的运动员比例相当低（7.5%）。在RStudio中进行的路径分析发现，对裸盖菇素的态度和对裸盖菇素的了解是运动员和工作人员使用或支持PAT促进脑震荡恢复意愿的重要预测因素。运动员报告可能会参与PAT（61.2%），工作人员（71.1%）报告他们会支持运动员使用PAT。
本研究结果表明，体育界可能接受PAT，运动员愿意参与其中以促进脑震荡恢复和/或管理持续性脑震荡后症状（PPCS）。未来的研究应研究裸盖菇素对PPCS的影响，以了解是否有任何影响，同时解决对使用裸盖菇素长期影响的担忧。
