LSDs may help mental patients

Psychedelic drugs such as LSD and magic mushrooms do not cause mental health problems in users, a new study has claimed.
Researchers in Norway have said they in fact found ‘significant associations’ between the drugs and fewer psychological problems.
The team, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) Department of Neuroscience, studied more than 130,000 random people, including 22,000 who had used the drugs at least once, included in a health survey in the US. Clinical psychologist Pål-Ørjan Johansen, who carried out the study with researcher Teri Krebs, said: ‘After adjusting for other risk factors, lifetime use of LSD, psilocybin, mescaline or peyote, or past year use of LSD was not associated with a higher rate of mental health problems or receiving mental health treatment.’
The team studied the 2001-2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health which asked people about mental health conditions including general psychological distress, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and psychosis.
Krebs and Johansen used the data to investigate connections between the use of psychedelic drugs and the mental health issues. The researchers said rather than finding a connection between their use and an increase in problems, they discovered long-term use of drugs such as psilocybin or mescaline was linked to ‘lower rates of serious psychological distress’.
Meanwhile, people who had used LSD in the last 12 months were also associated with lower rates of distress, while those who had used the drug long-term had a lower rate of treatment for mental health issues. The researchers have said it is not possible to determine the reason behind their discoveries, because of the nature of the study, and warned the drugs could be harmful to some.