Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy for Social Adaptability in Autistic Adults
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2021 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2021_269 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Anxiety Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | Autism Neurocognitive Psychological intervention Mental health Clinical psychology Population Psychotherapist Cognition |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | Psychedelics cannot cure or alter the course of autism, but may benefit co-occurring conditions such as anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and trauma. |
Abstract
Access to the Internet has upended long-standing myths and misconceptions about autism as autistic individuals are enabled through technology increasingly to influence the dialog around neurodiversity, the experience of being autistic, and the effectiveness of mental health interventions for autistic adults. Autistic self-advocates are speaking up in support of including neurodivergent adults as a population that might benefit from the burgeoning psychedelic medicine field, in an absence of many other mental health treatment options that have been researched and shown to be effective for them. Autism is a genetically-determined neurocognitive variant with considerable heterogeneity across the broad autistic phenotype spectrum. Therefore, enthusiasm for investigating psychedelics to cure or alter the course of autism is most likely ill-informed and misdirected; psychiatric and psychopharmacological interventions do not alter the genome. However, autism frequently co-occurs with clinical conditions such as anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and trauma that have been investigated as indications for clinical trials with classic and atypical psychedelics. The purpose of this chapter will be to inform researchers and clinicians on the history of clinical research with classic psychedelics with autistic minors, recent and current clinical trials of atypical psychedelics with autistic adults, and considerations for providing psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies that are compatible with autism.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on psychedelic-assisted therapy, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Perceived changes in mental health and social engagement attributed to a single psychedelic experience in autistic adults: results from an online survey. Psychopharmacology February 1, 2025
- Lasting effect of psilocybin on sociability can be blocked by DNA methyltransferase inhibition bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) March 11, 2025
- A Comparative Neurophenomenology of the Psychedelic State and Autism: Predictive Processing as a Unifying Lens Psychoactives November 14, 2025
- Classic psychedelics and autism spectrum disorder: preclinical evidence, mechanistic insights and unresolved challenges. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews August 1, 2026
Cites 17
- Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of Psilocybin in 9 Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry November 15, 2006
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- MDMA enhances emotional empathy and prosocial behavior Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience October 4, 2013
- Reduction in social anxiety after MDMA-assisted psychotherapy with autistic adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. Psychopharmacology November 1, 2018
- Increased oxytocin concentrations and prosocial feelings in humans after ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) administration Social Neuroscience June 25, 2009
and 12 more in the library