Addiction Disorders

No Link Between Psychedelic Drugs and Mental Illnesses

Psychedelic drugs like LSD could be used to treat depression, study suggests
Psychedelic drugs like LSD could be used to treat depression, study suggests
Results showed psychedelic drug use associated with a lower risk of mental health issues.

An analysis of data provided by 135,000 randomly selected participants — including 19,000 people who had used drugs such as LSD and magic mushrooms — finds that use of psychedelics does not increase risk of developing mental health problems. The results are published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Previously, the researchers behind the study — from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim — had conducted a population study investigating associations between mental health and psychedelic use. However, that study, which looked at data from 2001-04, was unable to find a link between use of these drugs and mental health problems.

“Over 30 million US adults have tried psychedelics and there just is not much evidence of health problems,” says author and clinical psychologist Pål-Ørjan Johansen.

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