Mental Health Not Affected by LSD, Magic Mushrooms

A new study has revealed that psychedelics like LSD and magic mushrooms do not put a person at risk of developing mental health problems. Researchers analyzed data from the US National Health Survey (2008-2011) to gather information from more than 135,000 randomly chosen people, including 19,000 people who had used psychedelics. They studied the relationship between psychedelic drug use and psychological distress, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. However, the researchers found no link.

On the contrary, they found that on a number of measures, the use of psychedelic drugs is correlated with fewer mental health problems, with many people reporting deeply meaningful experiences and lasting beneficial effects from using psychedelics. But, the researchers also stressed that they could not exclude the possibility that use of psychedelics might have a negative effect on mental health for some individuals or groups, perhaps counterbalanced at a population level by a positive effect on mental health in others.

Neuroscientist Teri Krebs said, "Drug experts consistently rank LSD and psilocybin mushrooms as much less harmful to the individual user and to society compared to alcohol and other controlled substances. In contrast to alcohol, psychedelics are not addictive."

The study is published in Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Source-Medindia