Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study
Teri Suzanne Krebs, Pål-ørjan Johansen
PLoS One August 19, 2013 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063972 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 130,152 |
| Population | Adult population in the United States |
| Topics | Anxiety Mescaline Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Mental health Population Bipolar disorder Specific phobia Clinical psychology Hallucinogen |
| Citations | 338 |
| Key findings | Lifetime use of psychedelics was not associated with increased rates of any mental health outcomes; in some cases it was associated with lower rates. |
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, 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 lower rate of mental health problems.
Conclusion: We did not find use of psychedelics to be an independent risk factor for mental health problems.
In the evidence
This study is part of the evidence base for 2 syntheses in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.
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Lifetime psychedelic use was not associated with increased rates of mental health outcomes, including anxiety disorders, and in some cases was associated with lower rates.
Synthesized
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State of the evidence: Mescaline Supports
Lifetime use of classic psychedelics including mescaline was not associated with increased rates of any mental health outcome, and in some cases was associated with lower rates.
Synthesized
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on psilocybin for anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Challenging Experience Questionnaire: Characterization of challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms Internet survey respondents reporting challenging experiences with psilocybin | 2016 | Questionnaire development and validation | |
| Microdosing psychedelics: Motivations, subjective effects and harm reduction People aged 16 years or older who had used psychedelics and could comprehend written... | 2019 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 525 |
| People of color in North America report improvements in racial trauma and mental health symptoms following psychedelic experiences Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in the US and Canada | 2020 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 313 |
| Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey Adults planning to take psilocybin outside clinical research, primarily... | 2023 | Prospective longitudinal survey | n = 2,833 |
| Psychedelic perceptions: mental health service user attitudes to psilocybin therapy Mental health service users | 2021 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 99 |