Psychiatry researchApr 4, 2024

How effective and safe psychedelics may be for treating mental health disorders

Psychedelic Science Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 25, 2026

Abstract

A total of 126 articles were included in the review of psychedelics for treating mental disorders.

Psilocybin demonstrated the strongest therapeutic effect on mental disorders, with a significant effect size of -1.49.
Ayahuasca and MDMA also showed notable effects, with effect sizes of -1.34 and -0.83, respectively.
Psychedelics are associated with therapeutic effects on mental disorders like depression and anxiety.
Evidence suggests potential benefits of psychedelics for conditions such as tobacco addiction and eating disorders.
The most reported adverse effect was headache, with nearly a third of studies noting no lasting adverse effects.

Simplified

We aim to systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness and safety of psychedelics [psilocybin, ayahuasca (active component DMT), LSD and MDMA] in treating symptoms of various mental disorders. Web of Science, Embase, EBSCO, and PubMed were searched up to February 2024 and 126 articles were finally included. Results showed that psilocybin has the largest number of articles on treating mood disorders (N = 28), followed by ayahuasca (N = 7) and LSD (N = 6). Overall, psychedelics have therapeutic effects on mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. Specifically, psilocybin (Hedges' g = -1.49, 95% CI [-1.67, -1.30]) showed the strongest therapeutic effect among four psychedelics, followed by ayahuasca (Hedges' g = -1.34, 95% CI [-1.86, -0.82]), MDMA (Hedges' g = -0.83, 95% CI [-1.33, -0.32]), and LSD (Hedges' g = -0.65, 95% CI [-1.03, -0.27]). A small amount of evidence also supports psychedelics improving tobacco addiction, eating disorders, sleep disorders, borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and body dysmorphic disorder. The most common adverse event with psychedelics was headache. Nearly a third of the articles reported that no participants reported lasting adverse effects. Our analyses suggest that psychedelics reduce negative mood, and have potential efficacy in other mental disorders, such as substance-use disorders and PTSD.

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Competing interests

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

PubMed

How effective and safe psychedelics may be for treating mental health disorders

Abstract

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

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