The Bloom #188 Free Edition final look back

Can you believe we're already 12 days into the new year?

Looking back at 2025, I came across nearly 2000 psychedelic research papers (see the full list here). If I had to guess how many that were in 2019 - when I started tracking the research - I would put that number closer to 400 (if that).

But here we are, right in the middle of the psychedelic renaissance, with FDA approval(s) right around the corner.

For Blossom itself, I'm nearing the end of the full rebuild. Or maybe put better, the start of a new build period. Within the next few days, I plan to have the new site live and open for feedback (and you will likely also see this newsletter in a brand-new jacket).

But before that happens, cosy up with some hot chocolate, and enjoy the final recap of December's research.

Floris - Founder of Blossom

ps Are there any things you would love to see on Blossom in the future, please let me know by replying to this email.

Latest Psychedelic Research

1 Comparing single- and repeat-dose psilocybin with active placebo for migraine prevention in an exploratory randomized controlled clinical trial​

This double-blind randomised controlled trial (n=18) in adults with migraine found that whilst single or pulsed doses of psilocybin (10mg) showed large effect sizes for reducing migraine frequency compared to diphenhydramine placebo, the differences were not statistically significant, and all groups showed approximately 50% reductions over eight weeks, with diphenhydramine partially mimicking psilocybin's acute effects and complicating blinding integrity.

2 Effects of LSD and Psilocybin on Heart Rate in Patients Receiving Psychedelic Treatment for Depressive and Anxiety Disorders: A Retrospective Observational Study​

This retrospective observational study (n=30) of patients with treatment-resistant depression or anxiety disorders receiving LSD (100–200 mcg) or psilocybin (15–30 mg) under compassionate use found distinct cardiovascular patterns between substances, with LSD producing a delayed but sustained heart rate increase peaking at 3–4 hours while psilocybin showed an earlier decline, though no serious cardiovascular adverse events occurred.

3 A qualitative analysis of participant expectations and experiences of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder​

This qualitative study (n=12) of participants in an open-label pilot trial of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder in Sydney found that participants perceived the intervention as acceptable, with transformation often occurring through confronting challenging experiences during the psychedelic session ("leaning into the obstacle") leading to new understandings of self and relationships and reduced salience of methamphetamine use, with therapeutic alliance seen as critical to positive outcomes.

More Research

• ​Psychedelics: The pathway to implementation in the European healthcare systems​
• ​Real-World Psilocybin Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression: a Retrospective Observational Study​
• ​Predicting and exploring ayahuasca effects: Perception, mind-wandering, and EEG oscillations​
• ​The Relationship Between Participant Pretreatment Clinical Presentation and the Quality of Psilocybin Experience: A Retrospective Analysis​
• ​5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) for alcohol use disorder: An open-label, phase 2, proof-of-concept, clinical trial​
• ​Acute and post-dosing effects of single-dose psilocybin for obsessive-compulsive disorder in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial: an interpretative phenomenological analysis​
• ​What is it like to microdose LSD for depression? a thematic analysis of participant interviews from an open-label trial​
• ​Investigational psilocybin treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder: a qualitative study of participant experience, trauma engagement, and differences from standard treatment​
• ​Inhaled N, N-dimethyltryptamine diminishes connectivity between the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens: relevance to pathologies of mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways​

New on Blossom

1 Psychedelic Research Recap December​

In December 2025, psychedelic studies ranged from tightly controlled placebo designs to open-label clinic pilots and real-world chart reviews, with several papers also drilling into the lived experience of treatment through interviews and secondary analyses. Across this mix, the month’s work sharpened a few practical themes: how hard blinding can be when controls have noticeable effects, how dosing often predicts session intensity more than baseline clinical traits, and how early clinical signals and safety patterns look once these treatments move from trial protocols into everyday care.

2 Psychedelic Research Links 2025​

A comprehensive overview of all psychedelic research that has come out this year. We cover the research per month and provide a one-sentence summary for each new publication. After the full summary is added, a link to Blossom's review is added to the papers included in our database.
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Spotlight

No spotlight this time around.

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