LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: A qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects
Peter Gasser, Katharina Kirchner, Torsten Passie
Journal of Psychopharmacology November 11, 2014 DOI: 10.1177/0269881114555249 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Prospective follow-up with qualitative content analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 10 |
| Population | Patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases |
| Intervention | LSD-assisted psychotherapy |
| Duration | 12-month follow-up |
| Topics | Anxiety LSD Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | Psychotherapist Situational ethics Clinical psychology Qualitative research |
| Citations | 458 |
| Post-publication review | 1 comment on PubPeer (opens in new tab) · last active September 2016 |
| Key findings | LSD-assisted psychotherapy produced sustained reductions in anxiety and improvements in quality of life over 12 months, with no lasting adverse reactions. |
Abstract
Objective: A recently published study showed the safety and efficacy of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. Participants of this study were included in a prospective follow-up.
Method: 12 months after finishing LSD psychotherapy, 10 participants were tested for anxiety (STAI) and participated in a semi-structured interview. A Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) was carried out on the interviews to elaborate about LSD effects and lasting psychological changes.
Results: None of the participants reported lasting adverse reactions. The significant benefits as measured with the STAI were sustained over a 12-month period. In the QCA participants consistently reported insightful, cathartic and interpersonal experiences, accompanied by a reduction in anxiety (77.8%) and a rise in quality of life (66.7%). Evaluations of subjective experiences suggest facilitated access to emotions, confrontation of previously unknown anxieties, worries, resources and intense emotional peak experiences à la Maslow as major psychological working mechanisms. The experiences created led to a restructuring of the person’s emotional trust, situational understanding, habits and world view.
Conclusions: LSD administered in a medically supervised psychotherapeutic setting can be safe and generate lasting benefits in patients with a life-threatening disease. Explanatory models for the therapeutic effects of LSD warrant further study.
In the evidence
This study is part of the evidence base for 4 syntheses in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.
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At 12 months, anxiety benefits were sustained, most participants reported reduced anxiety and improved quality of life, and no lasting adverse reactions were reported.
Synthesized
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Anxiety benefits measured on the STAI were sustained at 12 months, with participants reporting reduced anxiety and improved quality of life and no lasting adverse reactions.
Synthesized
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State of the evidence: LSD Supports
Twelve months after LSD psychotherapy, anxiety benefits were sustained, most participants reported reduced anxiety and improved quality of life, and none reported lasting adverse reactions.
Synthesized
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Anxiety reductions were sustained over 12 months, with no lasting adverse reactions and reports of insightful, cathartic experiences.
Synthesized
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD Cluster headache patients who used psilocybin or LSD | 2006 | Qualitative study | n = 53 |
| Making "bad trips" good: How users of psychedelics narratively transform challenging trips into valuable experiences. Norwegian users of psychedelics | 2021 | Qualitative study | n = 50 |
| Psychedelic microdosing benefits and challenges: an empirical codebook Active microdosing community | 2019 | Mixed-methods study | |
| Psychoactive substances as a last resort—a qualitative study of self-treatment of migraine and cluster headaches Users of online forums discussing cluster headache and migraine treatments | 2017 | Qualitative thematic analysis | |
| A phenomenological analysis of the subjective experience elicited by ibogaine in the context of a drug dependence treatment Patients with substance-related disorders | 2017 | Qualitative study | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 388
- Quality of Acute Psychedelic Experience Predicts Therapeutic Efficacy of Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Frontiers in Pharmacology January 17, 2018
- Patients’ Accounts of Increased “Connectedness” and “Acceptance” After Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Journal of Humanistic Psychology June 19, 2017
- Set and setting, psychedelics and the placebo response: An extra-pharmacological perspective on psychopharmacology Journal of Psychopharmacology November 16, 2016
- Crystal structure of an LSD-bound human serotonin receptor Cell January 26, 2017
- Emotional breakthrough and psychedelics: Validation of the Emotional Breakthrough Inventory. Journal of Psychopharmacology July 11, 2019
and 383 more in the library
Cites 34
- Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance Psychopharmacology July 7, 2006
- The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- Pilot Study of Psilocybin Treatment for Anxiety in Patients With Advanced-Stage Cancer Archives of General Psychiatry September 7, 2010
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 23, 2012
- Psilocybin induces schizophrenia-like psychosis in humans via a serotonin-2 agonist action Neuroreport December 1, 1998
and 29 more in the library