Reducing the Harms of Nonclinical Psychedelics Use Through a Peer-Support Telephone Helpline

Introduction

Earlier research indicates that psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) delivered in clinical settings includes multiple safeguards — medical and psychological screening, preparatory sessions, supervised dosing, and postdosing integration — which aim to maximise therapeutic benefit and reduce risk. By contrast, many people now use psychedelics outside clinical settings where those protections are absent. The extracted text notes rising nonclinical use in recent years, citing survey data that show increased past-year use among young adults and middle-aged adults, and highlights that harms from nonclinical use tend to be psychological (for example, distress, panic, or risky behaviour during so-called "bad trips") rather than toxicological in nature. This study sets out to examine whether a peer-support telephone helpline can reduce risks associated with nonclinical psychedelics use. Specifically, Pleet and colleagues piloted an existing peer-support helpline to determine whether conversations with trained volunteers de-escalated callers in distress and might avert emergency service use or other harms in naturalistic psychedelic contexts.