Adults with who reported psychedelic use often described perceived symptom or mental-health benefits, but some reported bad trips or worsened eating-disorder symptoms.
Evidence
This was an international self-report survey of 5247 adults with diagnosed or distressing undiagnosed eating disorders, including 1699 lifetime psychedelic users and qualitative comments from 200 respondents.
Caveat
The findings are observational and self-selected, with no clinical verification, dosing control, comparator, or ability to determine efficacy or safety.
Simplified
BACKGROUND: There are few effective treatments for (EDs), and new interventions are urgently needed. The MEDication and other drugs For Eating Disorders ("MED-FED") survey investigated the lived experience of adults with EDs regarding their prescription and non-prescription drugs use. Psychedelic drugs were highly rated in this survey for their impact on ED symptoms and general mental health. Here, we provide a more granular analysis of a subset of the data pertaining to psychedelic drug use from this survey.
METHODS: The MED-FED survey recruited adults who self-reported either a clinically diagnosed ED or disordered eating that was currently undiagnosed but causing significant distress. The demographics of recent and lifetime psychedelic users relative to non-users were examined, as well as their use of other prescription and non-prescription drugs, and co-morbid conditions. Qualitative analysis was used to examine themes emerging from open-ended comments around use of psychedelic drugs.
RESULTS: Of the 5247 participants who completed the survey, 1699/5247 (32.4%) reported lifetime psychedelic use, with 1019/5247 (19.4%) having used in the last 12 months. Typical use involved infrequent consumption, once or twice per year, of psilocybin, LSD, 2-CB, or DMT. Those who reported recent psychedelic use were younger and less likely to currently use prescription drugs or to have been recently hospitalised for their ED. They were more likely to use other non-prescription drugs (e.g. cannabis, ketamine, stimulants) and to report co-morbid ADHD, PTSD, ASD, and substance misuse. Participants with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa were less likely to report psychedelic use, while those with an undiagnosed ED were more likely. Qualitative analysis of responses (n = 200) revealed themes of profound transformation, increased connectedness, and new insights into illness following psychedelic experiences. A handful of respondents reported benefits from microdosing. A few respondents reported adverse outcomes in their open-ended comments, including "bad trips" (n = 15) and worsened ED symptoms (n = 8) after psychedelic use.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide a unique insight into psychedelic use among individuals with EDs. The results align with emerging evidence suggesting that may be beneficial in this population, highlighting the need for further research, including clinical trials, to explore their efficacy and safety.
Key numbers
32.4%
Lifetime Psychedelic Use Prevalence
Percentage of respondents reporting lifetime psychedelic use.
19.4%
Recent Psychedelic Use Prevalence
Percentage of respondents reporting psychedelic use in the past 12 months.
Full Text
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Declarations. Ethical approval and consent to participate: The survey was approved by the Human ethics review board of the University of Sydney (2022/526) and all participants consented to participate. Consent for publication: Participants provided consent for the use of their data in publication. Competing Interests: AS has received consulting fees from the Medical Cannabis Industry Australia (MCIA) and Haleon (consumer healthcare subsidiary of Glaxo Smith-Kline). SM and SR has salary support from NHMRC. ISM is the Academic Director of the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics. He has served as an expert witness in various medicolegal cases involving cannabis and has received consulting fees from Medical Cannabis Industry Australia (MCIA), Althea, and Janssen. He has acted as an advisor/consultant to Kinoxis Therapeutics, Psylo, and Emyria and has had salary support from the NHMRC and from Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics. He is an inventor on patents WO2017004674, WO2018107216, WO2020102857 and AU2022240104 licensed to Kinoxis Therapeutics, involving the use of novel small molecules to treat addictions, social deficits, opioid withdrawal and aggression. He is an inventor on issued patents WO2019227167 and WO2019071302 which relate to cannabinoid therapeutics. MBP, KG, NM, NS have no conflicts to declare.
