This chapter explores the complex and controversial path of MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other behavioral disorders. It covers MDMA’s history from research to recreation to medicine, the pivotal trials, and the challenges faced by researchers. Despite recent setbacks for the clinical application of MDMA, the chapter argues that it holds potential for transforming psychiatry and discusses the uncertain future amidst ongoing debates over ethics, methodology, and political influence.

The history of Italian general psychiatry and forensic psychiatry over the last 50 years has been unique in the European and Western healthcare landscape. Western politicians often visit Italy to observe the successful community-based systems that have developed in that country.

This article represents a first step toward a necessary attempt, to explore how specific political decisions, such as the Italian one, have produced positive outcomes for patients with psychotic disorders, outcomes not observed in many Western countries, which are instead grappling with negative outcomes such as the complicated management of homelessness and the incarceration of people who would instead require psychiatric care.

In its historical context, the 1978 decision to abandon the asylum tradition in favor of socialization for patients living with severe mental disorders represented a difficult choice. This choice led to inevitable critical issues, which today are still not completely dormant.

This choice has also, undoubtedly, restored dignity to people living with serious mental illness, even when that person commits a crime.

To understand these changes, it is appropriate to mention the regulations that finally led to Law number 180 of 1978, which decreed the closure of psychiatric hospitals (Ospedale Psichiatrico) throughout Italy and continued after 2015 with the closure of high-security psychiatric hospitals (Ospedale Psichiatrico Giudiziario) as well.

Culturally, much has changed throughout this time in assistance to the mentally ill in Europe.

The link between creativity and serious mental illness (SMI) is widely discussed. Jackson Pollock is one example of a giant in the field of art who was both highly creative and experiencing an SMI. Pollock created a new genre of art known as abstract expressionism (“action painting”) defined as showing the frenetic actions of painting. The question arises whether his SMI played any role in the way he created his drip paintings, especially when he was overactive and manic. Furthermore, did visual hallucinations or enhanced visual perception associated with mania or psychosis facilitate Pollock in embedding and camouflaging images under layers of thrown paint? Seeing images in Pollocks drip paintings has been a controversy ever since these paintings were created. Some experts attribute this to pareidolia—perceiving specific images out of random or ambiguous visual patterns—a phenomenon known to be enhanced by fractal fuzzy edges such as seen in Rorschach ink blots as well as in Pollock drip paintings. So, are Pollock’s drip paintings merely giant Rorschach images, or did Pollock insert polloglyphs—images that are encrypted that tell a story about Pollock’s inner being—into his paintings and then disguise them with drippings? Here, we explore answers to these questions and discuss images that Pollock included in his earliest sketches and used repeatedly in his abstract paintings and later in his drip paintings to argue that these images are not accidental.

Incretin-based treatments, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists (eg liraglutide and semaglutide), have rapidly transformed obesity treatment. The well-documented weight loss effect from these agents is considered to be primarily a result of their actions on food intake, but frequent anecdotal reports from varied sources have suggested that they might also broadly affect consummatory behavior, including alcohol and drugs of abuse, suggesting a potential modulatory effect on reward behavior. Herein, we critically review the extant literature on the behavioral effects of GLP-1R agonists in humans, including their impact on feeding behavior, alcohol/drug intake, and overall reward response. We also consider the physiological and neurobiological underpinnings of GLP-1 actions, with a focus on its distinct central and peripheral roles, as well as its relationships with the broader energy homeostasis network. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of this line of research on how behavior is conceptualized, and the potential future directions for research.

Psilocybin therapy has recently emerged as a promising new treatment for depression and other mental health disorders. This chapter summarizes the most recent data on its safety and efficacy. The delivery of psilocybin therapy and its subjective effects are also presented. Furthermore, this chapter outlines our current understanding of psilocybin’s pharmacology and neurobiological effects. Other similar psychedelic substances with encouraging therapeutic potential are briefly presented.

A description is provided of the current situation in Aotearoa New Zealand with regard to compulsory treatment of people with schizophrenia. This is placed within the context of homelessness in New Zealand and the provision of services to the incarcerated mentally ill. There are high rates of homelessness and incarceration and services are struggling to meet their needs. This is particularly a problem for the indigenous population. The current Mental Health Act allows for compulsory treatment of people who as a result of schizophrenia are seriously impaired in their capacity to care for themselves, and this will include people where there is a nexus between homelessness and their illness. The Mental Health Act is being reformed, with a new act likely to emphasize autonomy and capacity to a greater degree. Finally, the author considers the learnings from 5 years working within the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, which provides a unique perspective on these issues.

The CDC reports that the United States has the highest suicide rates in over 80 years. Numerous public policies aimed at reducing the rising suicide rates, such as Aetna’s partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the zero-suicide initiative, continue to challenge these attempts. It, therefore, remains imperative to explore the shortcomings of these efforts that hamper their efficiency in reducing suicide rates. Advancements in research over time have sparked scientific skepticism, encouraging re-evaluation of established concepts. The current paper tests prevalent assumptions and arguments to uncover a scientifically informed approach to addressing rising suicide rates in clinical settings.

The perspective article explores systemic issues in psychiatric care, particularly the barriers to timely treatment and the ethical dilemmas involved in involuntary interventions. It further examines the impact of anosognosia—lack of disease insight—on treatment, noting the difficulties in managing care for those unaware of their illness, and scrutinizes training materials from international organizations that might mislabel necessary psychiatric practices as human rights violations, thereby complicating the care landscape. The discussion extends to the legal and societal implications of psychiatric interventions, using Massachusetts’ Rogers Guardianship as a case study to highlight the consequences of legalistic approaches to mental health treatment.

The article calls for destigmatizing psychiatric treatment and integrating robust, evidence-based practices to improve patient outcomes and healthcare equity. The global mental health policy landscape is urged to recognize the critical role of psychiatric care in restoring health and dignity to individuals with serious mental illnesses, advocating for a more nuanced understanding and application of human rights in mental health.

This article presents a comprehensive neuroethical framework that seeks to deepen our understanding of human consciousness and free will, particularly in the context of psychiatric and neurological disorders. By integrating insights from neuroscience with philosophical reflections on freedom and personal identity, the paper examines how various states of consciousness from interoception to self-awareness influence an individual’s autonomy and decision-making capabilities. The discussion utilizes a multidimensional, bottom-up approach to explore how neurobiological processes underlie different levels of conscious experience and their corresponding types of freedom, such as “intero-freedom” related to internal bodily states and “self-freedom” associated with higher self-awareness. This stratification reveals the profound impact of neurological conditions on patients’ freedom of choice and the ethical implications therein. The insights gained from this analysis aim to inform more tailored and effective treatments for psychiatric patients, emphasizing the restoration of autonomy and respect for their inherent dignity. This work underscores the essential unity of the human person through the lens of neuroethics, advocating for healthcare policies that recognize and enhance the personal freedom of those with mental health challenges.

The revival of psilocybin in psychopharmacological research heralds a potential paradigm shift for treating mood and anxiety disorders, and other psychiatric conditions beyond the psychotic spectrum. This critical review evaluates current evidence on psilocybin’s efficacy, juxtaposing potential benefits with the practical aspects of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) and the methodological constraints of existing research.

An electronic literature search was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, selecting studies published up to December 2023 that explored the clinical use of psilocybin in mood and anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorder. Despite promising preliminary results suggesting psilocybin’s efficacy in alleviating depression and anxiety, as well as obsessions, compulsions, and addictive behaviors, significant evidence gaps persist. These include evaluating the efficacy of psilocybin compared to standard antidepressants or anxiolytic molecules and identifying patient subpopulations that might benefit most from PAP. Concerns about psilocybin’s safety, long-term efficacy, and optimal dosage remain unclear due to previous trials’ limitations. Real-world implementation faces challenges, including infrastructural requirements, personnel training, and unresolved legal and ethical issues. This paper argues for further research to substantiate the evidence base, emphasizing the need for larger studies that overcome current methodological limitations and explore psilocybin’s full therapeutic potential. While psilocybin holds promise for psychiatry, its successful translation from research to clinical practice demands more robust evidence on efficacy, safety, and methodological rigor. In addition, other factors, such as cultural stigma and legal/ethical issues, need to be successfully addressed to facilitate psilocybin’s implementation in healthcare systems.