Twenty human studies suggest that may help reduce alcohol consumption.
A total of 639 publications were identified, with 27 studies included after selection.
Human studies indicate promising data for the use of classic psychedelics in reducing alcohol consumption.
Methodological concerns exist in several human studies, including low participant numbers and lack of control groups.
Preclinical studies on the effect of classic psychedelics on alcohol consumption are limited and present conflicting results.
Psilocybin appears to show the most consistent data as a potential treatment for .
Further research with improved methodological quality is needed to clarify the effects of classic psychedelics.
Simplified
refer to substances such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, ayahuasca, and mescaline, which induce altered states of consciousness by acting mainly on 5-HTreceptors. Recently, the interest of psychedelics as pharmacological treatment for psychiatric disorders has increased significantly, including their use on problematic use of alcohol. This systematic review is aimed to analyse the last two decades of studies examining the relationship between classic psychedelics and alcohol consumption. We searched PubMed and PsycInfo for human and preclinical studies published between January 2000 to December 2021. The search identified 639 publications. After selection, 27 studies were included. Human studies (n = 20) generally show promising data and seem to indicate that classic psychedelics could help reduce alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, some of these studies present methodological concerns such as low number of participants, lack of control group or difficulty in determining the effect of classic psychedelics in isolation. On the other hand, preclinical studies (n = 7) investigating the effect of these compounds on voluntary alcohol consumption are scarce and show some conflicting data. Among these compounds, psilocybin seems to show the most consistent data indicating that this compound could be a potential candidate to treat . In the absence of understanding the biological and/or psychological mechanisms, more studies including methodological quality parameters are needed to finally determine the effects of classic psychedelics on alcohol consumption. 2A
Key numbers
83%
Reduction in Criteria
Percentage of participants reporting cessation of symptoms post-psychedelic use.
27
Included Studies
Total number of studies included in the systematic review.
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