High Doses Of LSD Lead To ‘Greater Reductions In Depression’ Compared To Low Doses Of The Psychedelic, New Study Finds
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Taking a high dose of LSD, coupled with assisted therapy, led to “greater reductions in depression” among patients compared to those who received a low dose of the psychedelic, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland investigated the therapeutic potential of LSD for people with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder, and they found the substance showed “promise” as a “novel approach” to treating the condition.
Notably, the study—published this month in the journal Med—indicated that “high-dose-LSD-assisted therapy reduced depressive symptoms more than low-dose therapy” and that the improvements lasted for up to 12 weeks after the treatment.
The randomized, double-blind trial involved administering doses of 100μg and 200μg of LSD for one cohort and two doses of 25μg of the psychedelic for the other. Symptoms of depression were measured at multiple intervals, starting with the baseline and followed up with examinations after two weeks, six weeks and 12 weeks.
After assessing the 61 patients post-administration, the researchers concluded that the “findings of this exploratory study support further investigation of LSD-assisted therapy in depression in a larger phase 3 trial.”
“The present trial’s strengths include a clinically representative sample with respect to the duration of illness, common comorbid conditions, and various pretreatments,” the study authors said. “Other strengths include the comparison with a low-dose group and a relatively long follow-up period of 12 weeks after the last administration.”
“LSD could be used safely within the framework of this study,” they said, adding that compared to previous trials involving psilocybin, “LSD has a longer duration of action.”
“This prolonged effect makes clinical application more resource intensive. It remains to be resolved whether this extended duration offers clinical advantages,” the study text says. “Furthermore, it is yet to be determined if there are other relevant differences among hallucinogenic drugs in terms of therapeutic potential.”
Last year, meanwhile, U.S. researchers announced that, for the first time ever, they will be administering LSD to patients in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The study will focus on whether the psychedelic can be used to effectively treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the LSD product “breakthrough therapy” status as a treatment for GAD last year.
Breakthrough drug status is meant to recognize the therapeutic promise of an emerging substance or therapy as well as speed the research and development of treatments that fill an unmet need. MDMA and psilocybin have also previously been awarded the designation.
Also last year, a report by researchers who gave a dog a dose of LSD in order to treat separation anxiety found that the psychedelic caused no adverse effects and appeared to “significantly” attenuate the animal’s nervous symptoms.
Another report, on the millions of Americans with depression who might qualify for psilocybin-assisted therapy if it becomes widely available, noted that if LSD is approved for treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, doctors might also prescribe it for off-label uses, such as depression.
A separate study published last summer found that pairing psychedelics like LSD with a small dose of MDMA seemed to both reduce those feelings of discomfort and highlight more positive aspects of the experience.
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