Ferreira Ana Esteves, Reis-Pina Paulo
Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal; Bento Menni Palliative Care Unit, Sintra, Portugal.
J Psychosom Res. 2025 Feb;189:112020. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2024.112020. Epub 2024 Dec 17.
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (PAT) is gaining traction as a novel approach to addressing the psychological and existential distress experienced by patients.
This systematic review aimed to investigate the impact of PAT on spirituality, mystical experiences, and spiritual well-being (SpWB) in patients with life-threatening, incurable, or terminal illnesses.
A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases to identify relevant studies published between 2013 and 2023. The study population comprised patients diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. Various forms of PAT, encompassing both typical and atypical psychedelic substances, were considered as interventions, with no specific comparators outlined. The primary outcomes of interest included spirituality, mystical experience, and SpWB. Risk of bias assessment was performed using Cochrane's tools.
Six studies with a high risk of bias were included in the review, all conducted in the United States of America, involving 140 patients, the majority of whom had cancer (99 %). PAT, especially with psilocybin, demonstrated significant enhancements in spirituality, mystical experiences, and SpWB. Notably, SpWB showed improvements in all studies which assessed this spiritual outcome following PAT. Mystical experiences were correlated with improvements in spirituality in one study.
This systematic review underscores the potential of PAT to address unmet spiritual needs and enhance SpWB in patients with life-threatening illnesses. However, further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these therapeutic effects. Rigorous evaluation of healthcare practitioners' role in guiding patients through PAT protocols is essential to ensure safe and effective implementation in palliative care settings.
迷幻辅助疗法（PAT）作为一种解决患者心理和生存困扰的新方法，正越来越受到关注。
本系统评价旨在调查PAT对患有危及生命、无法治愈或晚期疾病的患者的灵性、神秘体验和精神幸福感（SpWB）的影响。
在PubMed、科学网和Cochrane数据库中进行了全面检索，以识别2013年至2023年期间发表的相关研究。研究人群包括被诊断患有危及生命疾病的患者。各种形式的PAT，包括典型和非典型的迷幻物质，都被视为干预措施，未概述具体的对照。感兴趣的主要结局包括灵性、神秘体验和SpWB。使用Cochrane工具进行偏倚风险评估。
该评价纳入了六项具有高偏倚风险的研究，均在美国进行，涉及140名患者，其中大多数患有癌症（99%）。PAT，尤其是使用裸盖菇素的PAT，在灵性、神秘体验和SpWB方面有显著增强。值得注意的是，在所有评估PAT后这一精神结局的研究中，SpWB都有改善。在一项研究中，神秘体验与灵性的改善相关。
本系统评价强调了PAT在满足患有危及生命疾病患者未满足的精神需求和增强SpWB方面的潜力。然而，需要进一步研究以阐明这些治疗效果的潜在机制。对医疗从业者在指导患者通过PAT方案方面的作用进行严格评估，对于确保在姑息治疗环境中安全有效地实施至关重要。
