Should Teenagers Take Psychedelics for Mental Health?

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P.Many teenagers indulge in psychedelics. At a party, a friend might slip them a pill or tablet and they will enter the bizarre world of mind-altering drugs, the boundaries of the self dissolving into ecstatic visions. But these trips don’t always end well. Some adolescents will end up in the emergency room for psychological distress or dangerous behavior. They may suffer from persistent hallucinations and perceptual disturbances, symptoms of schizophrenia, or other cognitive and social disorders.

But some teens may find that they are better able to psychologically manage their daily lives in the weeks after their trip. Given the real need for new, effective therapies for adolescents with mental illness, many of whom are resistant to standard treatments, is it possible to consider hallucinogens as a therapy for young people with mental health problems – or are the risks too great?

This is one of the questions posed by a recent review of the psychedelic literature published in Lancet Child and Adolescent Health by a team of international scientists led by McGill University. Clinical research on the use of psychedelic drugs for mental health treatment has increased over the past two decades. Ketamine is the only psychedelic that has been approved so far for the treatment of mental health problems, and some scientists question conventional explanations of how psychedelic-assisted therapy works, but evidence suggests they may be effective for certain conditions in some adults. A few months ago, for example, researchers found that psilocybin treatment was linked to lasting recovery from depression over a five-year period.

The problem is that the vast majority of studies focus exclusively on adults. Investigating these therapies in adolescents is, of course, much more ethically tricky.

Some teens find that they are better able to manage their daily lives in the weeks following their trip.

“If we want to determine whether youth with unmet mental health needs could benefit from psychedelic therapies currently being tested in adults, then we need to gather evidence and develop clinical knowledge that, as we show, does not currently exist,” said lead author Khaleel Rajwani, in an email. As a doctoral student in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University, Rajwani studies ethical issues in psychiatry and mental health.

Over the past 25 years, only four of the nearly 1,600 studies on psychedelics registered or published with the FDA have involved adolescents younger than 18, according to the study by Rajwani and colleagues. These trials, which propose to study the use of MDMA and psilocybin-assisted therapies in adolescents suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, social anxiety and self-harm, have not been completed and no results have been published. (That said, a Swedish study of more than 16,000 healthy adolescent twins published in Jama Psychiatry in 2024, found that children who used psychedelics recreationally had fewer episodes of psychosis than children who did not use them, when other drugs were taken into account, since 99% of the children in the study also used other drugs. On the other hand, psychedelic use was associated with more manic symptoms among youth with genetic vulnerabilities to schizophrenia.)

Gaps in research on how adolescents with mental health problems respond to psychedelics need to be filled, scientists say. Even though adolescent brain structures that support planning and impulse control are still developing, they say, the risks of treatment-resistant mental illness in children may be greater than the risks posed by hallucinogens — such as potential impacts on cognitive and social development — and clinicians may try treating younger patients with these substances anyway.

Many psychiatric medications are now prescribed to adolescents, even though clinical trials provide little evidence of their effectiveness at this age, Rajwani and colleagues write. If psychedelics are approved for the treatment of mental illness in adults, psychiatrists could also begin prescribing them off-label to adolescents despite a lack of clinical evidence.

Scientists recommend that research into psychedelic treatments for adolescents should proceed with caution, of course, and only in populations where the potential benefits significantly outweigh the risks, and with strict consent controls in place.

“We must remain aware of the unique risks and vulnerabilities in adolescent contexts and ensure that any psychedelic research conducted in this population is rigorous and meets the highest ethical standards,” Rajwani writes in an email.

Teenagers are unlikely to stop taking psychedelics recreationally or even for self-medication. But at least with a little more careful research we might know more about where their minds go after a mind-blowing journey.

More than Nautilus about psychedelics:

“What does your brain do with psychedelics?» Something is going on here, but neuroscientists don’t know what it is.

“Will psychedelics replace antidepressants?» Psychedelic treatment helps patients make difficult emotional breakthroughs.

“Clergy blown away by psilocybin» A 10-year-old study is finally revealed.

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Main image: oodles / Shutterstock

• Kristen French

  Published on November 5, 2025

  Kristen French is an associate editor at Nautilus. She has worked in science journalism since 2013, reporting and writing articles and news for publications such as Wired, Backchannel, The Verge, And New York Review. She holds a master’s degree in science journalism from Columbia University.