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“A sense of the bigger picture:” A qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use

OBJECTIVES: People with bipolar disorder (BD) spend more time depressed than manic/hypomanic, and depression is associated with greater impairments in psychosocial functioning and quality of life than mania/hypomania. Emerging evidence suggests psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in “magic mushroo...

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Autores principales: DellaCrosse, Meghan, Pleet, Mollie, Morton, Emma, Ashtari, Amir, Sakai, Kimberly, Woolley, Josh, Michalak, Erin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9749989/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36516137
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279073
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author DellaCrosse, Meghan
Pleet, Mollie
Morton, Emma
Ashtari, Amir
Sakai, Kimberly
Woolley, Josh
Michalak, Erin
author_facet DellaCrosse, Meghan
Pleet, Mollie
Morton, Emma
Ashtari, Amir
Sakai, Kimberly
Woolley, Josh
Michalak, Erin
author_sort DellaCrosse, Meghan
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: People with bipolar disorder (BD) spend more time depressed than manic/hypomanic, and depression is associated with greater impairments in psychosocial functioning and quality of life than mania/hypomania. Emerging evidence suggests psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in “magic mushrooms,” is a promising treatment for unipolar depression. Clinical trials of psilocybin therapy have excluded people with BD as a precaution against possible adverse effects (e.g., mania). Our study centered the experiences of adults living with BD who consumed psilocybin-containing mushrooms, and aimed to (1) understand its subjective impacts on BD symptoms, (2) deepen understanding of Phase I survey results, and (3) elucidate specific contextual factors associated with adverse reactions in naturalistic settings. METHODS: Following an international survey (Phase I), follow-up interviews were conducted with 15 respondents (Phase II) to further understand psilocybin use among adults with BD. As part of a larger mixed-methods explanatory sequential design study, reflexive thematic analysis was used to elaborate findings. RESULTS: Three major themes containing sub-themes were developed. (1) Mental Health Improvements: (1.1) decreased impact and severity of depression, (1.2) increased emotion processing, (1.3) development of new perspectives, and (1.4) greater relaxation and sleep. (2) Undesired Mental Health Impacts: (2.1) changes in sleep, (2.2) increased mania severity, (2.3) hospitalization, and (2.4) distressing sensory experiences. (3) Salient Contextual Factors for psilocybin use included: (3.1) poly-substance use and psilocybin dose, (3.2) solo versus social experiences, and (3.3) pre-psilocybin sleep deprivation. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate both benefits and risks of psilocybin use in this population. Carefully designed clinical trials focused on safety and preliminary efficacy are warranted.
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spelling pubmed-97499892022-12-15 “A sense of the bigger picture:” A qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use DellaCrosse, Meghan Pleet, Mollie Morton, Emma Ashtari, Amir Sakai, Kimberly Woolley, Josh Michalak, Erin PLoS One Research Article OBJECTIVES: People with bipolar disorder (BD) spend more time depressed than manic/hypomanic, and depression is associated with greater impairments in psychosocial functioning and quality of life than mania/hypomania. Emerging evidence suggests psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in “magic mushrooms,” is a promising treatment for unipolar depression. Clinical trials of psilocybin therapy have excluded people with BD as a precaution against possible adverse effects (e.g., mania). Our study centered the experiences of adults living with BD who consumed psilocybin-containing mushrooms, and aimed to (1) understand its subjective impacts on BD symptoms, (2) deepen understanding of Phase I survey results, and (3) elucidate specific contextual factors associated with adverse reactions in naturalistic settings. METHODS: Following an international survey (Phase I), follow-up interviews were conducted with 15 respondents (Phase II) to further understand psilocybin use among adults with BD. As part of a larger mixed-methods explanatory sequential design study, reflexive thematic analysis was used to elaborate findings. RESULTS: Three major themes containing sub-themes were developed. (1) Mental Health Improvements: (1.1) decreased impact and severity of depression, (1.2) increased emotion processing, (1.3) development of new perspectives, and (1.4) greater relaxation and sleep. (2) Undesired Mental Health Impacts: (2.1) changes in sleep, (2.2) increased mania severity, (2.3) hospitalization, and (2.4) distressing sensory experiences. (3) Salient Contextual Factors for psilocybin use included: (3.1) poly-substance use and psilocybin dose, (3.2) solo versus social experiences, and (3.3) pre-psilocybin sleep deprivation. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate both benefits and risks of psilocybin use in this population. Carefully designed clinical trials focused on safety and preliminary efficacy are warranted. Public Library of Science 2022-12-14 /pmc/articles/PMC9749989/ /pubmed/36516137 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279073 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) public domain dedication.
spellingShingle Research Article
DellaCrosse, Meghan
Pleet, Mollie
Morton, Emma
Ashtari, Amir
Sakai, Kimberly
Woolley, Josh
Michalak, Erin
“A sense of the bigger picture:” A qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use
title “A sense of the bigger picture:” A qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use
title_full “A sense of the bigger picture:” A qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use
title_fullStr “A sense of the bigger picture:” A qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use
title_full_unstemmed “A sense of the bigger picture:” A qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use
title_short “A sense of the bigger picture:” A qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use
title_sort “a sense of the bigger picture:” a qualitative analysis of follow-up interviews with people with bipolar disorder who self-reported psilocybin use
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9749989/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36516137
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279073
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