Anxiety DisordersBipolar DisorderDepressive DisordersMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD)PTSDSubstance Use Disorders (SUD)SchizophreniaMescalinePsilocybin

Psychedelics and mental health: a population study

This survey study that included psychedelics users (n=21.967, 13% of total) found no associations between psychedelics use and mental health outcomes. It even found a slightly lower rate of mental health problems for those who used psychedelics.

Authors

  • Krebs, T. S.
  • Johansen, P. ˚. Ø.

Published

PLOS ONE
individual Study

Abstract

Background

The classical serotonergic psychedelics LSD, psilocybin, mescaline are not known to cause brain damage and are regarded as non-addictive. Clinical studies do not suggest that psychedelics cause long-term mental health problems. Psychedelics have been used in the Americas for thousands of years. Over 30 million people currently living in the US have used LSD, psilocybin, or mescaline.

Objective

To evaluate the association between the lifetime use of psychedelics and current mental health in the adult population.

Method

Data drawn from years 2001 to 2004 of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health consisted of 130,152 respondents, randomly selected to be representative of the adult population in the United States. Standardized screening measures for past-year mental health included serious psychological distress (K6 scale), mental health treatment (inpatient, outpatient, medication, needed but did not receive), symptoms of eight psychiatric disorders (panic disorder, major depressive episode, mania, social phobia, general anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and non-affective psychosis), and seven specific symptoms of non-affective psychosis. We calculated weighted odds ratios by multivariate logistic regression controlling for a range of sociodemographic variables, the use of illicit drugs, risk-taking behavior, and exposure to traumatic events.Results 21,967 respondents (13.4% weighted) reported lifetime psychedelic use. There were no significant associations between lifetime use of any psychedelics, lifetime use of specific psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, peyote), or past year use of LSD and increased rate of any of the mental health outcomes. Rather, in several cases psychedelic use was associated with a lower rate of mental health problems.

Conclusion

We did not find the use of psychedelics to be an independent risk factor for mental health problems.

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Research Summary of 'Psychedelics and mental health: a population study'

Introduction

Psychedelic substances such as LSD, psilocybin and mescaline have long histories of ceremonial, religious and therapeutic use and became widely used in the 1960s. Earlier clinical studies and expert harm-assessments have not demonstrated persistent neurotoxicity, dependence, or widespread long-term psychiatric harm from these classical serotonergic psychedelics. However, despite millions of lifetime users in the United States, population-level evidence on whether lifetime psychedelic use is associated with current mental health problems remains limited. Krebs and colleagues set out to evaluate associations between lifetime use of classical psychedelics and a range of past-year mental health indicators in a large, nationally representative sample of US adults. The study aims to determine whether lifetime or recent psychedelic use is independently associated with higher rates of serious psychological distress, mental health treatment, or symptoms of eight psychiatric disorders, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, other drug use, risk-taking and exposure to traumatic events. This population-level assessment is intended to complement clinical and case-based literature by providing a broad epidemiological perspective.

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Study Details

References (10)

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