Searched for: person:bossia01
in-biosketch:yes
Considerations on the Psychedelic Landscape
Bossis, Anthony P.; Grob, Charles S.
SCOPUS:85192555433
ISSN: 0022-1678
CID: 5661332
Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the Context of Serious Illness
Rosa, William E; Sager, Zachary; Miller, Megan; Bernstein, Ilan; Doerner Rinaldi, Alden; Addicott, Katie; Ljuslin, Michael; Adrian, Chris; Back, Anthony L; Beachy, Jamie; Bossis, Anthony P; Breitbart, William S; Cosimano, Mary P; Fischer, Stacy M; Guss, Jeffrey; Knighton, Emma; Phelps, Janis; Richards, Brian D; Richards, William A; Tulsky, James A; Williams, Monnica T; Beaussant, Yvan
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is a burgeoning treatment with growing interest across a variety of settings and disciplines. Empirical evidence supports PAT as a novel therapeutic approach that provides safe and effective treatment for people suffering from a variety of diagnoses, including treatment-resistant depression, substance use disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Within the palliative care (PC) field, one-time PAT dosing may lead to sustained reductions in anxiety, depression, and demoralization-symptoms that diminish the quality of life in both seriously ill patients and those at end of life. Despite a well-noted psychedelic renaissance in scholarship and a renewed public interest in the utilization of these medicines, serious illness-specific content to guide PAT applications in hospice and PC clinical settings has been limited. This article offers 10 evidence-informed tips for PC clinicians synthesized through consultation with interdisciplinary and international leading experts in the field with aims to: (1) familiarize PC clinicians and teams with PAT; (2) identify the unique challenges pertaining to this intervention given the current legalities and logistical barriers; (3) discuss therapeutic competencies and considerations for current and future PAT use in PC; and (4) highlight critical approaches to optimize the safety and potential benefits of PAT among patients with serious illness and their caregivers.
PMID: 35285721
ISSN: 1557-7740
CID: 5183792
Guidelines and standards for the study of death and recalled experiences of death--a multidisciplinary consensus statement and proposed future directions
Parnia, Sam; Post, Stephen G; Lee, Matthew T; Lyubomirsky, Sonja; Aufderheide, Tom P; Deakin, Charles D; Greyson, Bruce; Long, Jeffrey; Gonzales, Anelly M; Huppert, Elise L; Dickinson, Analise; Mayer, Stephan; Locicero, Briana; Levin, Jeff; Bossis, Anthony; Worthington, Everett; Fenwick, Peter; Shirazi, Tara Keshavarz
An inadvertent consequence of advances in stem cell research, neuroscience, and resuscitation science has been to enable scientific insights regarding what happens to the human brain in relation to death. The scientific exploration of death is in large part possible due to the recognition that brain cells are more resilient to the effects of anoxia than assumed. Hence, brain cells become irreversibly damaged and "die" over hours to days postmortem. Resuscitation science has enabled life to be restored to millions of people after their hearts had stopped. These survivors have described a unique set of recollections in relation to death that appear universal. We review the literature, with a focus on death, the recalled experiences in relation to cardiac arrest, post-intensive care syndrome, and related phenomena that provide insights into potential mechanisms, ethical implications, and methodologic considerations for systematic investigation. We also identify issues and controversies related to the study of consciousness and the recalled experience of cardiac arrest and death in subjects who have been in a coma, with a view to standardize and facilitate future research.
PMID: 35181885
ISSN: 1749-6632
CID: 5175822
Use of the classic hallucinogen psilocybin for treatment of existential distress associated with cancer
Chapter by: Grob, Charles S; Bossis, Anthony P; Griffiths, Roland R
in: Psychological aspects of cancer: A guide to emotional and psychological consequences of cancer, their causes, and their management., 2nd ed by Steel, Jennifer L [Ed]; Carr, Brian I [Ed]
Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland AG; Switzerland, 2022
pp. 69-89
ISBN: 978-3-030-85701-1
CID: 5377612
Acute and Sustained Reductions in Loss of Meaning and Suicidal Ideation Following Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy for Psychiatric and Existential Distress in Life-Threatening Cancer
Ross, Stephen; Agin-Liebes, Gabrielle; Lo, Sharon; Zeifman, Richard J; Ghazal, Leila; Benville, Julia; Franco Corso, Silvia; Bjerre Real, Christian; Guss, Jeffrey; Bossis, Anthony; Mennenga, Sarah E
People with advanced cancer are at heightened risk of desire for hastened death (DHD), suicidal ideation (SI), and completed suicide. Loss of Meaning (LoM), a component of demoralization, can be elevated by a cancer diagnosis and predicts DHD and SI in this population. We completed a randomized controlled trial in which psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) produced rapid and sustained improvements in depression, demoralization, and hopelessness in people with cancer. Converging epidemiologic and clinical trial findings suggests a potential antisuicidal effect of this treatment. To probe our hypothesis that PAP relieves SI through its beneficial impacts on depression and demoralization (LoM in particular), we performed secondary analyses assessing within- and between-group differences with regard to LoM and an SI composite score. Among participants with elevated SI at baseline, PAP was associated with within-group reductions in SI that were apparent as early as 8 h and persisted for 6.5 months postdosing. PAP also produced large reductions in LoM from baseline that were apparent 2 weeks after treatment and remained significant and robust at the 6.5 month and 3.2 and 4.5 year follow-ups. Exploratory analyses support our hypothesis and suggest that PAP may be an effective antisuicidal intervention following a cancer diagnosis due to its positive impact on hopelessness and demoralization and its effects on meaning-making in particular. These preliminary results implicate psilocybin treatment as a potentially effective alternative to existing antidepressant medications in patients with cancer that are also suicidal, and warrant further investigation in participants with elevated levels of depression and suicidality.
PMCID:8033770
PMID: 33860185
ISSN: 2575-9108
CID: 4846332
Psilocybin, spirituality, and palliative care: Research and implications
Bossis, Anthony P.
SCOPUS:85101440156
ISSN: 1076-2809
CID: 4832662
Utility of psychedelics in the treatment of psycho-spiritual and existential distress in palliative care: A Promising new paradigm
Chapter by: Bossis, AP
in: Handbook of medical hallucinogens by Grob, Charles S; Grigsby, Jim (Eds)
New York, NY : The Guilford Press, [2021]
pp. 441-473
ISBN: 1462545440
CID: 4795352
Defining the Roles and Research Priorities for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies in Patients with Serious Illness: Expert Clinicians' and Investigators' Perspectives
Beaussant, Yvan; Sanders, Justin; Sager, Zachary; Tulsky, James A; Braun, Ilana M; Blinderman, Craig D; Bossis, Anthony P; Byock, Ira
PMID: 32233936
ISSN: 1557-7740
CID: 4371432
Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for psychiatric and existential distress in patients with life-threatening cancer
Agin-Liebes, Gabrielle I; Malone, Tara; Yalch, Matthew M; Mennenga, Sarah E; Ponté, K Linnae; Guss, Jeffrey; Bossis, Anthony P; Grigsby, Jim; Fischer, Stacy; Ross, Stephen
BACKGROUND/UNASSIGNED:A recently published randomized controlled trial compared single-dose psilocybin with single-dose niacin in conjunction with psychotherapy in participants with cancer-related psychiatric distress. Results suggested that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy facilitated improvements in psychiatric and existential distress, quality of life, and spiritual well-being up to seven weeks prior to the crossover. At the 6.5-month follow-up, after the crossover, 60-80% of participants continued to meet criteria for clinically significant antidepressant or anxiolytic responses. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:The present study is a long-term within-subjects follow-up analysis of self-reported symptomatology involving a subset of participants that completed the parent trial. All 16 participants who were still alive were contacted, and 15 participants agreed to participate at an average of 3.2 and 4.5 years following psilocybin administration. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:Reductions in anxiety, depression, hopelessness, demoralization, and death anxiety were sustained at the first and second follow-ups. Within-group effect sizes were large. At the second (4.5 year) follow-up approximately 60-80% of participants met criteria for clinically significant antidepressant or anxiolytic responses. Participants overwhelmingly (71-100%) attributed positive life changes to the psilocybin-assisted therapy experience and rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives. CONCLUSION/UNASSIGNED:These findings suggest that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy holds promise in promoting long-term relief from cancer-related psychiatric distress. Limited conclusions, however, can be drawn regarding the efficacy of this therapy due to the crossover design of the parent study. Nonetheless, the present study adds to the emerging literature base suggesting that psilocybin-facilitated therapy may enhance the psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being of patients with life-threatening cancer.
PMID: 31916890
ISSN: 1461-7285
CID: 4257552
Can expressed interpersonal distress reverse the effects of early interpersonal adversity on somatoform/centralized pain? on neuropsychophysiologic mechanisms of symptom formation and implications for treatment [Meeting Abstract]
Landa, A; Bossis, A; Boylan, L; Hartz, A; Dall'Aglio, J; Wong, P
Background: Research based Developmental Theory of Somatoform/Centralized Pain (S/CP) (Landa et al., 2012) suggests that early interpersonal adversity(EIA) interacts with multigenerational factors leading to neural predisposition to S/CP. Interpersonal affect regulation between infant and caregiver is crucial for optimal maturation of nervous system; EIA may impede development of capacities for emotion-somatic sensation differentiation, awareness, expression and regulation of emotions, leading to experiencing distress in somaticaly. These mechanisms of symptom formation suggest that psychotherapies targeting development of these capacities can help treat S/CP; studies show that psychotherapies that focus on emotion expression and working through interpersonal traumas can alleviate S/CP. However, the exact neurophysiologic mechanisms underlying these effects are not yet fully understood. In our previous study, 90% of S/CP patients (vs 10% of controls) presented with the Unmet Need for Closeness with Others (UNCO) as main representation of relationships. We now present the data on autonomic regulation (HRV) and verbally expressed emotions/alexithymia during patient's interviews on interpersonal relationships.
Method(s): Twenty patients with S/CP from Pain, Neurology, and Primary Care clinics, and 20 age-, sex-, ethnicity-, and level of education-matched healthy controls completed the Relationship Anecdotes Paradigm (RAP)-a semi-structured interview coded for representations of relationships (Core Conflictual Relationship Theme method). HRV was measured continuously during RAP. RAP narratives were coded for Verbally Expressed Emotion using coding method adapted from Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale.
Result(s): S/CP patients had higher levels of UNCO and RAP alexithymia, and significant increase in HRV during RAP vs controls. Relationship between these dimensions and history of interpersonal traumas will be explored.
Discussion(s): Talking about interpersonal relationships and expressing UNCO to others was associated with HRV increase among S/CP patients, which has direct implications for psychophysiologic mechanisms underlying change in psychotherapeutic interventions for S/CP, therefore helping reverse effects of EIA suggested by the Developmental Theory of S/CP. Implications for diagnosis and treatment of S/CP will be discussed
EMBASE:627783540
ISSN: 1534-7796
CID: 3904702