Psychedelics disrupt brain signal flow in both humans and mice across LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA

Key Findings

🏥 Psilocybin therapy hits real-world roadblocks despite approval

• A Canadian cancer center received regulatory approval for psilocybin-assisted therapy but treated zero patients in the first year
• Despite estimated costs of only $2,648-5,827 CAD per patient, administrative procedures and unclear referral processes created major barriers
• Staff viewed the treatment favorably but emphasized the need to align it with existing care pathways

💊 Most people with alcohol problems are open to psychedelic therapy

• 64.3% of 112 people with alcohol use disorder said they'd be willing to try psychedelic therapy in a clinical trial
• 62.5% were already aware of psychedelic research for mental health conditions
• Willingness was strongly linked to expectations of success (3.3x higher odds) but not to age or general knowledge about psychedelics

🔍 Ketamine clinics advertising home use often lack medical doctors

• 233 ketamine clinics in the New York area were identified through web searches, with 36.5% advertising at-home ketamine use
• Only 51.5% of all clinics listed a medical doctor on their team, and clinics advertising home use were less likely to have MDs (54% less likely)
• 42.9% advertised oral ketamine, and oral ketamine clinics were 4x more likely to offer at-home treatment

⚠️ Psychedelic-psychosis link may be misleading

• Among 273,466 people with substance-related hospital admissions, 16.4% of hallucinogen users later had psychosis diagnoses vs 6.6% of other substance users
• However, when researchers adjusted for pre-existing psychiatric conditions, the increased psychosis risk disappeared entirely
• The apparent hallucinogen-psychosis connection was explained by underlying mental health vulnerabilities, not the drugs themselves

🎯 Personality predicts which psychedelic effects you'll experience

• 426 psychedelic users completed personality tests and rated the intensity of 20 different sensory distortions during their experiences
• Specific personality traits correlated with particular effects: visual trails, "breathing" objects, out-of-body experiences, and synesthesia all linked to measurable personality differences
• The associations held even when controlling for dose, setting, and demographics, though the effects were moderate

❌ Psychedelics show no clear benefit for ADHD in systematic review

• Only 6 studies met criteria for examining psychedelics as ADHD treatment: 1 randomized trial found no significant difference vs placebo, 3 surveys reported positive effects, 1 measured improvement, and 1 case study with ketamine
• The single rigorous randomized controlled trial showed no statistically important improvement compared to placebo
• Researchers concluded there's insufficient evidence to recommend psychedelic use for ADHD