Qualitative Content Analysis of Expectations in participants with depression about to begin LSD microdosing treatment: Identifying the need for psychedelic expectancy measures.

Expectations can impact antidepressant treatment and psychedelic therapy, often enhance placebo effects and influence outcomes. However, research in this context is lacking. Our study explored the expectations of participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) before microdosing lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in an open-label trial.

A qualitative exploration of community pharmacist views on providing a mental health and well-being intervention for long-term condition patients.

Background: Subthreshold depression and anxiety are common, affecting up to 24 % of people over their lifetime and are often associated with long-term conditions. Community pharmacists, who often have an established relationship with people who have long-term conditions, are well placed to identify and address subthreshold depression and anxiety and reduce the risk of progression to clinical mental health disorders.

Methods: Semi-structured individual qualitative interviews were conducted with community pharmacists to explore their perspectives on a pharmacy service for long-term condition patients with subthreshold depression and anxiety.

The first year of assisted dying in New Zealand through the lens of healthcare professionals not directly involved in the process.

Background: New Zealand's End of Life Choice Act 2019 was enacted in 2021, allowing terminally ill people experiencing unbearable suffering to request assisted dying if they are expected to die within six months. Healthcare professionals not directly involved in assisted dying provision may have unique perspectives on implementation, yet this remains under-explored.

Methods: This qualitative study was conducted between June and November 2022.

A qualitative study of community pharmacists in New Zealand: mental health literacy and the barriers and facilitators to providing and receiving mental healthcare in community pharmacies.

Background: Community pharmacists (CPs) play a valuable role in the provision of mental healthcare in primary care settings; however, CPs may not be comfortable or confident doing so. Mental health literacy (MHL) of CPs and consumers, alongside factors in community pharmacies may contribute to this.

Objective: The aims of this study were to explore how MHL may affect the provision and receipt of mental healthcare in community pharmacies, and the perceived barriers and facilitators for CPs in providing mental healthcare.

Early experiences of the End of Life Choice Act 2019 amongst assisted dying practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Background: The global trend of legalising assisted dying (AD) has reshaped end-of-life care practices, and Aotearoa New Zealand's adoption of the End of Life Choice Act (the Act) in 2019 represents a significant shift. Limited empirical research on AD in New Zealand after the enactment of the Act underscores the need for investigation. Conducting research in the early stages of AD implementation is crucial to building a strong knowledge base and laying the foundation for future research.

Mapping Neuroinflammation With Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Randomized Crossover Study.

Background: The pathophysiology of neuroinflammation in psychiatric conditions remains poorly understood, highlighting the need for noninvasive tools that can measure neuroinflammation in vivo. We explored advanced diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques for detection of low-level neuroinflammation induced by typhoid vaccine, with potential applications to psychiatric disorders.

Methods: Twenty healthy volunteers (10 males; median age 34, range 18-44 years) participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover design study.

The Identification and Management of Subthreshold Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care for People With Long-Term Conditions.

Subthreshold depression (sDep) and anxiety (sAnx) are common conditions and are associated with significant suffering, impaired functioning, increased healthcare utilisation and economic costs. Furthermore, they are risk factors for crossing the clinical threshold and developing mental health disorders. Subthreshold conditions are associated with long-term conditions (LTCs).

The Effects of Neuroinflammation Induced by Typhoid Vaccine on Resting and Task-Based Electroencephalography.

Introduction: Considerable evidence suggests a pathophysiological role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders. Lumbar puncture and positron emission tomography (PET) show increased levels of inflammation in psychiatric disorders. However, the invasive nature of these techniques, as well as their expense, make them undesirable for routine use in patients.

Advancing health coaching: A comparative study of large language model and health coaches.

Objective: Recent advances in large language models (LLM) offer opportunities to automate health coaching. With zero-shot learning ability, LLMs could revolutionize health coaching by providing better accessibility, scalability, and customization. The aim of this study is to compare the quality of responses to clients' sleep-related questions provided by health coaches and an LLM.

A survey of the psychiatric care provided for children and young people in general hospital settings in New Zealand.

Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct an in-depth survey of psychiatric care provided for children and young people (CYP) in general hospital settings in New Zealand (NZ).

Method: As part of a larger national survey of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) services across the lifespan, a 44-question survey was emailed to clinicians who were involved in providing psychiatric care for CYP at each of the 24 public general hospitals with specialist paediatric services.

Results: Responses were obtained from all four paediatric CLP teams that cover the four specialist children's hospitals, and 16 of the 23 child and adolescent community mental health services that provide hospital inreach.

Multimodal creativity assessments following acute and sustained microdosing of lysergic acid diethylamide.

Introduction: Enhanced creativity is often cited as an effect of microdosing (taking repeated low doses of a psychedelic drug). There have been recent efforts to validate the reported effects of microdosing, however creativity remains a difficult construct to quantify.

Objectives: The current study aimed to assess microdosing's effects on creativity using a multimodal battery of tests as part of a randomised controlled trial of microdosing lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).

LSDDEP2: study protocol for a randomised, double-dummy, triple-blind, active placebo-controlled, parallel groups trial of LSD microdosing in patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) poses a significant global health burden with available treatments limited by inconsistent efficacy and notable side effects. Classic psychedelics, including lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), have garnered attention for their potential in treating psychiatric disorders. Microdosing, the repeated consumption of sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics, has emerged as a self-treatment approach for depression within lay communities.

LSD increases sleep duration the night after microdosing.

Microdosing psychedelic drugs at a level below the threshold to induce hallucinations is an increasingly common lifestyle practice. However, the effects of microdosing on sleep have not been previously reported. Here, we report results from a Phase 1 randomized controlled trial in which 80 healthy adult male volunteers received a 6-week course of either LSD (10 µg) or placebo with doses self-administered every third day.

PAM trial protocol: a randomised feasibility study of psychedelic microdosing-assisted meaning-centred psychotherapy in advanced stage cancer patients.

Background: An advanced cancer diagnosis can be associated with a significant profile of distress. Psychedelic compounds have shown clinically significant effects in the treatment of psychological distress in patients with advanced-stage cancer. Given the challenges of delivering timely and effective intervention in the advanced cancer context, it is possible that an alternative, more pragmatic, approach lies in psychedelic 'microdosing'.

Towards Personalised Mood Prediction and Explanation for Depression from Biophysical Data.

Digital health applications using Artificial Intelligence (AI) are a promising opportunity to address the widening gap between available resources and mental health needs globally. Increasingly, passively acquired data from wearables are augmented with carefully selected active data from depressed individuals to develop Machine Learning (ML) models of depression based on mood scores. However, most ML models are black box in nature, and hence the outputs are not explainable.

An open-label pilot trial assessing tolerability and feasibility of LSD microdosing in patients with major depressive disorder (LSDDEP1).

Background: Globally, an estimated 260 million people suffer from depression [1], and there is a clear need for the development of new, alternative antidepressant therapies. In light of problems with the tolerability and efficacy of available treatments [2], a global trend is emerging for patients to self-treat depression with microdoses of psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin [3]. Beyond anecdotal reports from those who self-medicate in this way, few clinical trials have evaluated this practice.

Exploring the impact of e-learning modules and webinars on health professionals' understanding of the End of Life Choice Act 2019: a secondary analysis of Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health workforce survey.

Aim: To explore the importance of health workforce training, particularly in newly regulated healthcare practices such as assisted dying (AD). This study aims to analyse the socio-demographic factors associated with health professionals' completion of the e-learning module and attendance at the two webinars provided by the New Zealand Ministry of Health - Manatū Hauora (MH) and whether completion of the e-learning module and webinars supported health professionals' understanding of the End of Life Choices Act 2019.

Method: Secondary analysis of the MH workforce surveys conducted in July 2021.

Perspectives from gambling expert stakeholders in relation to electronic gaming machines in New Zealand.

Electronic gaming machines (EGMs) are one of the most addictive and harmful forms of gambling. Gaming machine characteristics, easy accessibility of EGMs and normalisation of gambling behaviour have exacerbated these effects. We conducted a pilot study investigating the perspectives of gambling expert stakeholders on gambling harm and effective harm-minimisation policies regarding EGMs.

Broadening the state of play - the second national survey of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry services in New Zealand, 2021.

Objective: The original national survey of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) services in New Zealand (NZ) that was undertaken in 2018 (CLPSNZ-1) established a baseline but was limited in scope. The aim of the current study was to conduct a more in-depth national survey.

Method: A 44-question survey was emailed to clinicians at each of the 16 general hospitals in NZ with specialist adult CLP services in 2021.

From the chemical imbalance to the power imbalance: A psychiatry trainee's perspectives on service-user supervision.

Objective: This paper describes perspectives and insights of a trainee's experience of service-user supervision. This includes the background to this novel approach, outlining its process and content, key themes arising, applications in practice, limitations of the approach, and future considerations.

Conclusions: Service-user supervision promotes education and experiences at this important stage of professional development and can promote clinical, cultural, and systemic changes required to support the paradigm shift towards recovery-oriented and human rights-based practice.

Detection of Neuroinflammation Induced by Typhoid Vaccine Using Quantitative Magnetization Transfer MR: A Randomized Crossover Study.

Background: The role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders is not well-elucidated. A noninvasive technique sensitive to low-level neuroinflammation may improve understanding of the pathophysiology of these conditions.

Purpose: To test the ability of quantitative magnetization transfer (QMT) MR at 3 T for detection of low-level neuroinflammation induced by typhoid vaccine within a clinically reasonable scan time.

A survey of the psychiatric care provided for medically ill older adults in general hospitals in New Zealand.

Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct an in-depth survey of the psychiatric care provided for medically ill older adults in general hospitals in New Zealand (NZ).

Method: As part of a larger survey of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) services for all ages in NZ (CLPSNZ-2), a 44-question survey was emailed to clinicians who were involved in providing psychiatric care for medically ill older adults at each of the 16 general hospitals with designated CLP services.

Results: Responses were obtained from 22 services at 16 hospitals - 14 CLP services and eight Psychiatry of Old Age (POA) in-reach services.

Health professionals' understanding and attitude towards the End of Life Choice Act 2019: a secondary analysis of Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health workforce surveys.

Aim: To determine socio-demographic factors associated with health professionals' understanding of the End of Life Choice Act (the Act), support for assisted dying (AD), and willingness to provide AD in New Zealand.

Method: Secondary analysis of two Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health workforce surveys conducted in February and July 2021.

Results: Our analysis showed (1) older health professionals (age>55) had a better overall understanding of the Act than their young colleagues (age⁢35), (2) female health professionals were less likely to support and be willing to provide AD, (3) Asian health professionals were less likely to support AD compared to their Pākehā/European counterparts, (4) nurses were more likely to support AD and be willing to provide AD when compared to medical practitioners, and (5) pharmacists were more willing to provide AD when compared to medical practitioners.