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American Psychiatrists' Opinions About Classic Hallucinogens and Their Potential Therapeutic Applications: A 7-Year Follow-Up Survey.

Brian S. Barnett, Miranda Arakelian, David Beebe, Jared Ontko, Connor Riegal, Willie O. Siu, Jeremy Weleff, Harrison G. Pope

Psychedelic Medicine March 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1089/psymed.2023.0036 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Survey Peer reviewed
Sample size 131
Population American Psychiatric Association members (resident-fellows and attending psychiatrists)
Topics Psychedelic-assisted therapy
Keywords Psychiatric research Hallucinogen studies Medical attitudes Psychedelic assisted therapy Psychedelics Psychiatrist Mental health treatment
Citations 28
Key findings American psychiatrists in 2022-23 showed significantly increased optimism about the therapeutic promise of hallucinogens and decreased concern about risks compared to 2016, with 50.4% planning to incorporate hallucinogen-assisted therapy into their practice.

Abstract

Psilocybin, a classic hallucinogen, may eventually be approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for treatment-resistant depression. However, we are aware of only one published national survey of American psychiatrists regarding their opinions about hallucinogens and hallucinogen-assisted therapy, conducted by our group in 2016. Here, we report a repeat survey, using virtually identical methods, assessing whether American psychiatrists display greater optimism about the therapeutic use of hallucinogens in 2022-23. We e-mailed our survey instrument to 1,000 randomly selected American Psychiatric Association members-250 resident-fellows and 750 attending psychiatrists-in late 2022 and early 2023. We calculated descriptive statistics and used a non-parametric trend test to compare the current survey responses with those from 2016. We also constructed a multivariate logistic regression model to assess attributes of respondents that predicted moderate/strong agreement with plans to incorporate hallucinogen-assisted therapy into their own practice. The response rate was 13.1% (N = 131). Respondents were demographically similar to the 2016 respondents. A majority moderately/strongly believed that hallucinogens show promise in treating psychiatric conditions (80.9%) and substance use disorders (SUDs) (60.8%). Large majorities also moderately/strongly supported research into hallucinogens' therapeutic potential for psychiatric conditions (93.9%) and SUDs (88.6%), as well as federal funding of associated clinical trials (84.7% and 80.9%, respectively). Comparisons to 2016 showed significantly increased optimism regarding the therapeutic promise of hallucinogens and decreased concern about risks, with 50.4% of respondents reporting moderate/strong intentions to incorporate hallucinogen-assisted therapy into their practice. Our data reveal a striking positive shift in attitudes toward the therapeutic potential of hallucinogens among American psychiatrists since 2016, with a majority of responding psychiatrists planning to incorporate hallucinogen-assisted therapy into their practice if regulatory approval is granted.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on psychedelic-assisted therapy, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Psychological flexibility mediates the relations between acute psychedelic effects and subjective decreases in depression and anxiety. International sample of people who reported having used a psychedelic 2020 Cross-sectional survey n = 985
Psychedelic Treatment for Trauma-Related Psychological and Cognitive Impairment Among US Special Operations Forces Veterans U.S. Special Operations Forces Veterans who completed a psychedelic clinical program in... 2020 Survey n = 51
Population Survey Data Informing the Therapeutic Potential of Classic and Novel Phenethylamine, Tryptamine, and Lysergamide Psychedelics Respondents from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2008–2017, weighted to... 2020 Cross-sectional survey n = 260,964,827
Examination of the Phenomenology of the Ibogaine Treatment Experience: Role of Altered States of Consciousness and Psychedelic Experiences. Individuals who used ibogaine in the past 2017 Retrospective survey n = 27
Assessing the quality of publicly available videos on MDMA‐assisted psychotherapy for PTSD Videos on YouTube about MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD 2022 Cross-sectional study n = 100

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