Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Psychedelic treatments for mental health conditions pose challenges for informed consent

Nature Medicine volume 29, pages 2167–2170 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Enhanced informed consent procedures are needed for patients treated with psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA, due to effects that include an altered state of consciousness and vulnerability to suggestion.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Goodwin, G. M. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 387, 1637–1648 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Griffiths, R. R. et al. J. Psychopharmacol. (Oxf.) 30, 1181–1197 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Mitchell, J. M. et al. Nat. Med. 27, 1025–1033 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Smith, W. R. & Appelbaum, P. S. Neuropharmacology 216, 109165 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Kwan, A. C. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 25, 1407–1419 (2022).

  6. Johnson, M. W. et al. J. Psychopharmacol. (Oxf.) 22, 603–620 (2008).

  7. Cavarra, M. et al. Front. Psychol. 13, 887255 (2022).

  8. Moreno, F. A. et al. J. Clin. Psychiatry 67, 1735–1740 (2006).

  9. Spriggs, M. J. et al. Front. Psychiatry 12, 735523 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Ko, K. et al. J. Affect. Disord. 322, 194–204 (2023).

  11. dos Santos, R. G. et al. Expert Rev. Clin. Pharmacol. 11, 889–902 (2018).

  12. Schimmel, N. et al. Psychopharmacology (Berl.) 239, 15–33 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Wilkinson, S. T. et al. Psychother. Psychosom. 86, 162–167 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Kasper, S. et al. World J. Biol. Psychiatry 22, 468–482 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. de la Torre, R. et al. Ther. Drug Monit. 26, 137–144 (2004).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank C. E. Fisher and J. Taborda da Gama for comments on an initial version of this manuscript. This work was supported by grant PTDC/MED-NEU/31331/2017 from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia to C.S., G.C. and A.J.O.-M. A.J.O.-M. received other grants from the Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia (PTDC/SAU-NUT/3507/2021; PTDC/MED-NEU/1552/2021) and the Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia and FEDER (PTDC/MED-NEU/30845/2017_LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-030845; PTDC/MEC-PSQ/30302/2017_LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-30302), a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (grant agreement no. 950357) and grants from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (H2020‑SC1‑2017‑CNECT‑2‑777167‑ΒΟUNCE; H2020‑SC1‑DTH‑2019‑875358‑FAITH) and the European Joint Programme in Rare Diseases (Joint Translational Call 2019) through the Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia (EJPRD/0001/2020).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Champalimaud Research and Clinical Centre, Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carolina Seybert, Gonçalo Cotovio & Albino J. Oliveira-Maia

  2. Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida (ISPA), Lisbon, Portugal

    Carolina Seybert

  3. NOVA Medical School, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS, FCM, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Gonçalo Cotovio & Albino J. Oliveira-Maia

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental, Lisbon, Portugal

    Gonçalo Cotovio

  5. Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Luís Madeira

  6. Portuguese Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Lisbon, Portugal

    Luís Madeira & Albino J. Oliveira-Maia

  7. National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences, Lisbon, Portugal

    Luís Madeira & Miguel Ricou

  8. Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Faculty of Medicine, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Miguel Ricou

  9. College of Clinical and Health Psychology, Portuguese Psychologists Association, Lisbon, Portugal

    Miguel Ricou

  10. Mental Health Department, Unidade Local de Saúde do Baixo Alentejo, Beja, Portugal

    Ana Matos Pires

  11. Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (NMS/UNL), Lisbon, Portugal

    Ana Matos Pires

  12. College of Psychiatry, Portuguese Medical Association, Lisbon, Portugal

    Ana Matos Pires

Authors
  1. Carolina Seybert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gonçalo Cotovio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Luís Madeira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Miguel Ricou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ana Matos Pires
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Albino J. Oliveira-Maia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Albino J. Oliveira-Maia.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

C.S. received payment from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. A.M.P. received payment or honoraria from Janssen and Lundbeck and participated in advisory boards for Janssen and Angelini. A.J.O.-M. was the national coordinator for Portugal of trials for treatment-resistant depression of psilocybin, sponsored by Compass Pathways, Ltd (EudraCT number 2017-003288-36), and of esketamine, sponsored by Janssen-Cilag, Ltd (EudraCT NUMBER: 2019-002992-33); received payment or honoraria from MSD, Neurolite AG, Janssen and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction; participated in advisory boards for Janssen and Angelini; and is the recipient of a grant from Schuhfried GmBH. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Seybert, C., Cotovio, G., Madeira, L. et al. Psychedelic treatments for mental health conditions pose challenges for informed consent. Nat Med 29, 2167–2170 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02378-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02378-5

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing