'One and done' dose of LSD keeps anxiety at bay

""The safety looks good, the tolerability looks good," he says, "but where is the depth of information about the way you delivered this product?" Carhart-Harris, like many scientists who study psychedelics, believes that successful treatment is more likely if a person has the right mindset when beginning a trip and if the trip occurs in a place with the right sensory environment."

"The study involved 198 adults with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, a disabling form of anxiety that affects about one in 10 people over the course of a year. Participants who got lower doses of LSD (25 or 50 micrograms) did no better than those who got a placebo. But people who received higher doses (100 or 200 micrograms) responded quickly, a team reports in the Journal of the American Medical Association."

A single higher dose (100 or 200 micrograms) of LSD produced rapid and sustained reductions in anxiety and depression, with improvements evident by the next day and persisting for 12 weeks. One hundred ninety-eight adults with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) received single doses at varying microgram levels. Lower doses (25 or 50 micrograms) performed no better than placebo, while higher doses produced clear responses. Safety and tolerability appeared acceptable. Uncertainty remains about how much non-drug factors such as patient mindset and the sensory treatment environment contributed to outcomes. GAD involves continuous worry, physical symptoms, and frequent co-occurring depression, and many current medications are inadequate.

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