Difficulties following naturalistic psychedelic use and associations with adverse childhood experiences.
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.