Psykedelisk terapi – Att bryta ner för att bygga upp : Kartläggning av förmodade förändringsmekanismer i psykedelika-assisterad terapi för depressionssymptom – en scoping review

Sammanfattning: Background: A recent surge in interest for psychedelic-assisted therapy has manifested itself in exponential increases of subject-related academic publications as well as broad media attention. However, a lot is still to be wished for regarding the question of how the therapy actually works. Objective: To map the current empirical literature regarding “mechanisms of change” and corresponding relevant measures of these mechanisms. Method: The present essay is a scoping review. The process involves systematically acquiring relevant literature by conducting a literature search on two different platforms, Pubmed and PsychInfo, in order to extract and map the data seen as relevant to the research question. Results: Putative “mechanisms of change” and associated measures are successfully mapped and presented in a chart as well as in a basic qualitative content-analysis. The content analysis presents three separate categories used to conceptualize different mechanisms of change: Acute subjective experience, psychological flexibility and neural flexibility. Conclusion: Psychedelic-assisted therapy involves a number of complex mechanisms of change which can be studied both from a psychological as well as neurobiological perspective. These mechanisms can be thought to be dependent on processes in the acute subjective experience and consist in the form of increased psychological flexibility. Relevant measures include psychometric instruments that can be well complemented by FMRI-data. In order to gain a better understanding of these processes regarding the way they relate to one another, what moderates their outcome on depressive symptoms and how clinical application is optimized, further research is warranted.