As depressed people turn to LSD, can hallucinogens treat mental illness?
More people are using hallucinogenic drug LSD in recent years, and there's a disproportionate level of use among depressed people, a study has found.
Research led by the New York State Psychiatric Institute concluded that LSD use has risen 450%, from 0.2% to 0.9%, between 2008 and 2019.
Among people with depression, the figure rose from 0.5% to 1.8% over the same period.
The researchers said that interest in LSD may have been sparked by recent research into the effects of psychedelic drugs on mental illness – and media reports around it.
The researchers said: "This study suggests that, from 2008 to 2019, there was a disproportionate increase in the prevalence of past-year LSD use among US adults with past-year depression."
The researchers warned against using LSD in an unsupervised setting.
The study relied on data from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), with responses from 478,492 American adults.
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Scientists may have found how LSD treats mental illness (Daily Beast)
LSD might be good for us (Esquire)
Here's what LSD does inside your brain (Yahoo News)
Can LSD cure depression?
Research has shown that certain psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin (the ingredient in magic mushrooms) and MDMA (known as Ecstasy) can have an impact on problems such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
On LSD, the picture is less clear.
A small trial in 2018, funded by the Beckley Foundation and led by the 'first lady of LSD', Amanda Feilding, the Countess of Wemyss and March, saw 20 volunteers take the drug and fill in psychological questionnaires.
Feilding said: "I took it in the 1960s when it was legal and it improved my wellbeing."
A systematic review of studies into LSD in Frontiers in Psychiatry in 2020 found that the drug was a "potential therapeutic agent", with the strongest evidence around using LSD to treat alcoholism.
Will MDMA be used as a medicine?
Another illegal hallucinogen, MDMA, is close to being approved as a medicine for the general public in the US.
Following a second large clinical trial, researchers have concluded that the drug – in combination with therapy – can be used to treat mental illness, in particular PTSD.
Approval could come as soon as next year.
In 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration awarded the drug 'breakthrough status', so it could be fast-tracked as a potential treatment.
Studies have shown that patients with PTSD – where it's difficult to deal with painful memories – can overcome their traumas, long-term, with the aid of MDMA.
