A single dose of LSD seems to reduce anxiety

A single dose of the Psychedelic LSD drug seems to reduce anxiety without lasting side effects.

“Ours is the first modern test to specifically examine the LSD, or any other psychedelic, for a generalized anxiety disorder,” said Dan Karlin at Biotech Company Mindmed in New York.

The condition is characterized by excessive concern about a wide range of things, such as work and relationships. The first -line treatment includes drugs improving mood, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (ISRS) and other antidepressants and talking therapies.

But about half of people do not respond to such treatments. “For many people, the SSRIs are not very effective, they have intolerable side effects [such as feeling emotionally numb] Because people have to take them daily, and they only work while you take them, ”says Karlin.

Previous studies have suggested that the LSD could be an alternative. Psychedelic is often used recreational for its hallucinogenic effects altering the mind. Karlin says he is supposed to act by increasing the levels of chemical serotonin which stimulates mood in the brain, which, according to some, induces a deep emotional experience in them. He adds that he can also improve the capacity of the brain to reclassify and train new models of thought.

But so far, no test comparing people taking LSD to other people taking placebo pills has explored whether the substance can benefit those who suffer from a generalized anxiety disorder.

To fill this gap, Karlin and his colleagues recruited 198 adults with the condition. Participants slowly decreased the anxiety drugs they used, but those who received psychotherapy continued with their sessions.

In a survey commonly used in clinics, participants then evaluated the severity of each of the 14 symptoms, such as feeling worried, tense or fought to concentrate, on a scale of 0 to 4. On a maximum total score of 56, the participants obtained a score of 30, on average, above the 24 threshold for severe anxiety.

Then, the team randomly divided the participants into five groups who took LSD – at various doses of 25, 50, 100 or 200 micrograms – or placebo pills, without being told what they were given. A day later, those who had received doses of 100 and 200 micrograms, but not the other groups, have already reported an improvement in symptoms, explains Karlin.

A month later, those who had received the doses of 100 and 200 micrograms experienced an average reduction of 21 and 19 points of anxiety, respectively, with the sustained improvement until the end of the study, three months after the dosage day. About 46% of these participants went to remission.

Meanwhile, those who take the placebo and the two lower doses have seen a reduction of 14 to 17 points of anxiety during the same period, with around 20% in remission. This suggests that the lower doses have provided no additional relief beyond placebo.

The advantage observed by the two highest dose groups is a substantial improvement above placebo, explains Sunjeev Kamboj at the University College in London. “It is a clinically significant improvement in terms of deficiency and distress,” he says.

The improvement of the placebo group, a commonly observed phenomenon in anxiety tests, probably results from a mixture of factors, such as people feeling and cared for in the trial, explains Kamboj.

The team found that most participants could guess precisely if he had taken LSD or placebo. This is common with psychedelic because they have hallucinogenic side effects for many people. In all groups, some participants also experienced nausea and headache during the 12 hours of treatment.

Those who have lower doses of LSD and on the placebo have experienced changes in visual perception such as hallucinations at rates much lower than those of the higher doses of the psychedelic. It is difficult to know if the advantages linked to the LSD were due to the expectations of a person depending on the effects they felt or the direct effects of the brain medication, explains Kamboj.

Despite this warning, the study provides some of the best evidence to date that the LSD could be a useful treatment for anxiety, he said. “This is a very promising observation that you can get a very rapid effect in reducing symptoms, which would be extremely significant for patients.”

The results are quite promising for the Food and Drug Administration of the United States to have designated Mindmed’s LSD formulation as a revolutionary therapy, which accelerates the process of drug development. Karlin says that the team performs greater tests that will follow the advantages beyond three months, with expected results over the next two years.