Lifetime Psychedelic Use and Opioid Use Disorder Severity: Substance-Use Pattern Specific and Mental Health–Dependent Associations in a National Survey
PsyArXiv November 2, 2025 Sebastian Ehmann, Nathan M. Hager, Paul S. Regier et al. preprint
Among a national sample of US adults, lifetime psychedelic use is associated with lower severity of opioid use disorder, but this relationship depends on broader substance-use patterns and mental health. The protective association appears specific to certain substance-use profiles and is mediated by mental health status. The findings suggest that psychedelic use alone does not uniformly reduce opioid use disorder severity; rather, the context of other substance use and psychological well-being shapes the association.