Search

Psychedelic therapy shows promise as a novel intervention for a wide range of mental health concerns but its therapeutic action is incompletely understood. In line with acceptance and commitment therapy’s (ACT’s) transdiagnostic model, qualitative research has suggested that reductions in experiential avoidance are an important component of therapeutic outcomes associated with psychedelics. However, limited research has quantitatively explored the association between decreases in experiential avoidance and therapeutic outcomes associated with psychedelics. Therefore, in two prospective studies, using convenience samples of individuals with plans to use a psychedelic, we explored the impact of psychedelic use on experiential avoidance, depression severity, and suicidal ideation, as well as relationships between changes in these outcomes. Participants (Study 1, N=104; Study 2, N=254) completed self-report questionnaires of depression severity, suicidal ideation, and experiential avoidance: 1) before using a psychedelic (in ceremonial and non-ceremonial contexts), as well as 2) 2-weeks and 3) 4-weeks after psychedelic use. Across both studies, repeated measures ANOVAs indicated significant decreases in experiential avoidance, depression severity, and suicidal ideation after psychedelic use. Furthermore, decreases in experiential avoidance were significantly associated with decreases in depression severity and suicidal ideation. These results suggest that psychedelics may lead to significant decreases in experiential avoidance, depression severity, and suicidal ideation. Additionally, these findings imply that reduced experiential avoidance may be a transdiagnostic mechanism mediating treatment success within psychedelic therapy. We conclude that integrating psychedelics with psychotherapeutic interventions that target experiential avoidance (e.g. ACT) may enhance therapeutic outcomes.

The data transmission in wireless networks is usually analyzed under the assumption of non-stationary rates. Nevertheless, they strictly depend on the time of day, that is, the intensity of arrival and daily workload profiles confirm this fact. In this article, we consider the process of downloading a file within a single network segment and unsteady speeds—for arrivals, file sizes, and losses due to impatience. To simulate the scenario, a queuing system with elastic traffic with non-stationary intensity is used. Formulas are given for the main characteristics of the model: the probability of blocking a new user, the average number of users in service, and the queue. A method for calculating the boundaries of convergence of the model is proposed, which is based on the logarithmic norm of linear operators. The boundaries of the rate of convergence of the main limiting characteristics of the queue length process were also established. For clarity of the influence of the parameters, a numerical analysis was carried out and presented.

Background: MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) is a combined psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic intervention that shows promise in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although therapeutic alliance has been established as a key predictor across psychotherapies and is emphasised within MDMA-AP treatment manuals, research has not yet examined the relationship between therapeutic alliance and MDMA-AP treatment outcomes. Objective: Examine whether therapeutic alliance predicts changes in PTSD symptoms following MDMA-AP. Method: Twenty-three individuals with chronic PTSD participated in a MDMA-AP clinical trial that included a randomised (MDMA vs. placebo) and open-label phase. The present analyses focused on participants who were administered MDMA over the course of the randomised and open-label phases (n = 22). Therapeutic alliance was assessed using the Working Alliance Inventory at sessions baseline (pre-session 3) and sessions 4 and 9. PTSD symptoms were assessed using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised. Results: Controlling for baseline clinician-assessed PTSD severity, therapeutic alliance at sessions 4 and 9 (but not baseline) significantly predicted post-MDMA-AP clinician-assessed PTSD severity. Controlling for baseline self-reported PTSD severity, therapeutic alliance at baseline (although this did not survive correction for multiple comparisons) and sessions 4 and 9 predicted postMDMA-AP self-reported PTSD severity. Conclusions: The present results provide the first preliminary evidence for the relationship between the therapeutic alliance and treatment outcomes within MDMA-AP for PTSD. These findings highlight the important role of psychotherapy, and common psychotherapeutic factors, within MDMA-AP. Replication in studies with larger and more diverse clinical samples remain necessary [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, we investigated whether adolescents high in perfectionism are prone to experiencing self-stigma for seeking psychological help. This work is based on the premise that the need to seek help for psychological difficulties is not consistent with idealistic personal goals of perfectionistic young people and their desire to retain an idealistic self-image. A sample of 85 high school students completed the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale, the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale, and a measure of contact with individuals with mental illness. Results indicated that perfectionism was associated with self-stigma among those students with little to no experience with people with a history of mental illness. These findings suggest that certain perfectionistic students have a propensity toward low self-acceptance and judge themselves negatively for needing help. Implications are discussed for prevention and intervention programs that emphasize contact and experiential opportunities with individuals who have mental illness.

We consider ergodicity and truncation bounds for a retrial queueing model., 1. Introduction In this note we consider a simple retrial queuing model, that is, an inhomogeneous generalization of a Markovian single-server retrial queueing system. For a detailed description and and [...]

Nonstationary countable Markov chains with continuous time and absorption at zero are considered. We study the convergence rate to the limit mode. As examples, we consider simple nonstationary random walks., 1. Introduction The problem of studying the convergence rate to the limit mode for birth and death processes was considered during the last two decades in many papers, e.g., [1, [...]

Suicide is a major public health problem. Given increasing suicide rates and limitations surrounding current interventions, there is an urgent need for innovative interventions for suicidality. Although ayahuasca has been shown to target mental health concerns associated with suicidality (i.e., depression and hopelessness), research has not yet explored the impact of ayahuasca on suicidality. Therefore, we conducted secondary analyses of a randomized placebo-controlled trial in which individuals with treatment-resistant depression were administered one dose of ayahuasca (n = 14) or placebo (n = 15). Suicidality was assessed by a trained psychiatrist at baseline, as well as 1 day, 2 days, and 7 days after the intervention. A fixed-effects linear mixed model, as well as between and within-groups Cohen's d effect sizes were used to examine changes in suicidality. Controlling for baseline suicidality, we found a significant effect for time (p < .05). The effect of the intervention (i.e., ayahuasca vs. placebo) trended toward significance (p = .088). At all time points, we found medium between-group effect sizes (i.e., ayahuasca vs. placebo; day 1 Cohen’s d = 0.58; day 2 d = 0.56; day 7 d = 0.67), as well as large within-group (ayahuasca; day 1 Cohen's d = 1.33; day 2 d = 1.42; day 7 d = 1.19) effect sizes, for decreases in suicidality. Conclusions: This research is the first to explore the impact of ayahuasca on suicidality. The findings suggest that ayahuasca may show potential as an intervention for suicidality. We highlight important limitations of the study, potential mechanisms, and future directions for research on ayahuasca as an intervention for suicidality.Clinical Trial Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT02914769.