summary: A new study finds that lifetime LSD use is associated with more severe psychological distress following job loss. Researchers analyzed data from 15,854 adults and found that those who had previously used LSD were 1.6 to 1.7 times more likely to report severe distress.
This study suggests that LSD does not confer resilience against the stress of unemployment. These findings cast doubt on previous claims about the psychological benefits of using psychedelics.
Key Facts:
- Increasing pain: Former LSD users are 1.6 to 1.7 times more likely to experience serious psychological distress after losing their job.
- Large Data SetsThe study analyzed data from 15,854 adults from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
- Challenges to previous claimsThe results suggest that LSD use does not increase resilience to stress, contradicting previous research.
sauce: Pros
Lifetime LSD use is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing severe psychological distress after losing one’s job, according to a new study published this week in an open access journal. ProSone By Benjamin Cormann, formerly of the University of Konstanz in Germany.
Previous studies have found that people who use hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) score higher on measures of positive psychological traits than non-users, but it was unclear whether this translates into greater resilience to stressful life events.
The new study used publicly available data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which surveyed the US civilian noninstitutional population, from 2008 to 2019. Dr Corman analyzed data from 15,854 adults who had been employed within the past year but were unemployed and searching for work at the time of the survey.
The 520 respondents in the analysis reported having used LSD prior to losing their job, and these people were approximately 1.6 to 1.7 times more likely to report subsequent severe psychological distress within the past month compared to those who did not report such LSD use.
Similarly, previous use of LSD was associated with increased symptoms of (non-severe) psychological distress within the past month, and these associations held true even after controlling for sociodemographic variables.
Dr. Corman said the study found no evidence that LSD makes users psychologically resilient to future stress, but he noted that the study did not control for the timing of LSD use and unemployment.
Furthermore, the results cannot be extrapolated to draw conclusions about other types of hallucinogens, other types of life stresses, or the clinical use of LSD.
Dr Corman added: “This study demonstrates that prior use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is associated with greater psychological distress following subsequent unemployment, casting doubt on previous findings linking the use of classic hallucinogens with mental toughness and resilience.”
Funding: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under the German Excellence Strategy (grant number EXC2035/1-390681379). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
About this Psychedelic and Resilience Research News
author: Hannah Abdalla
sauce: Pros
contact: Hannah Abdalla – PLOS
image: Image courtesy of Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Does LSD confer lasting psychological resilience? A study of naturalistic users who have experienced unemployment.” Benjamin A. Corman et al. PLoS One
Abstract
Does LSD confer lasting psychological resilience? A study of naturalistic users who have experienced unemployment.
Recent research on classic hallucinogens suggests that their use is associated with psychological strength and resilience, thereby providing users with a certain psychological protection compared to non-users.
However, recent findings have called this notion into question, showing that lifetime users of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) report worsening mental health during stressful experiences.
The present study addresses these mixed results by investigating whether using LSD before a stressful experience reduces the psychological distress experienced after the stressful experience.The study is based on publicly available data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2008-2019), which included a weighted sample of 5,067,553 unemployed job seekers who experienced unemployment.
This study uses intentional respondent exclusion criteria to establish the temporal priority of the variables under investigation and directly tests whether LSD use confers psychological resilience in naturalistic users.
LSD use before unemployment was associated with a higher likelihood of severe psychological distress after unemployment, regardless of whether sociodemographic variables were controlled.
In sum, the study found no evidence that LSD helped naturopathic users gain psychological resilience after stressful experiences.