Psychol Med
March 31, 2025
Otto Simonsson, Simon B. Goldberg, Walter Osika et al.
16 citations
In a large online survey of over 12,000 participants followed for two months, people who used psychedelics outside of medical supervision reported increases in psychotic and manic symptoms. These increases occurred only among those who used psychedelics in an illegal context. The severity of psychotic symptoms rose with more frequent use and more intense challenging experiences, while manic symptoms increased more in individuals with a history of schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder and those who reported a strong sense of insight during their psychedelic experience. The findings suggest that naturalistic psychedelic use in illegal settings may pose risks for certain individuals.
Int J Drug Policy
December 13, 2025
Michelle Olofsson, Walter Osika, Simon B. Goldberg et al.
2 citations
A cross-sectional survey of 3,168 U.S. adults with lifetime psychedelic use found that most (87.9%) reported no difficulties. Among those who did, 6.4% experienced post-acute difficulties lasting more than one day, and 1.3% for more than one year. The most common difficulties were general anxiety, negative changes in self-concept, and social disconnection. Childhood adversity was associated with higher odds of psychedelic-related difficulties: individuals with 2, 3, or 4 or more adverse childhood experiences had roughly double to nearly triple the odds of difficulties compared to those with none. Those with 4 or more ACEs also had higher odds of difficulties persisting beyond one day or one week.
J Psychiatr Res
March 17, 2025
Otto Simonsson, Sankalp Chaturvedi, Peter S. Hendricks et al.
2 citations
Psychedelic use is linked to increases in weekly mindfulness and loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice, especially among people new to psychedelics or meditation. In a longitudinal study of 13,012 US adults aged 18–50, with 7,484 completing follow-up and 336 reporting psychedelic use during the two-month study, those who used psychedelics showed greater gains in meditation days. Among psychedelic users, higher baseline trait mindfulness and self-compassion predicted less severe challenging experiences and lower odds of psychedelic-related thoughts or attempts of self- or other-harm. However, for those already meditating, psychedelic use was associated with more meditation-related difficulties and impairments.