23 Jan CLASSIC PSYCHEDELIC USE PROTECTIVE WITH REGARD TO PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AND SUICIDALITY | SCIENCEDAILY
Heffter-supported researchers at the University of Alabama and Johns Hopkins examined health data for 190,000 individuals and found that people who have used one of the classic psychedelic drugs are less prone to suicidal thoughts and actions.
“Despite advances in mental health treatments, suicide rates generally have not declined in the past 60 years. Novel and potentially more effective interventions need to be explored,” said Peter S. Hendricks, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior and lead study author. “This study sets the stage for future research to test the efficacy of classic psychedelics in addressing suicidality as well as pathologies associated with increased suicide risk (e.g., affective disturbance, addiction and impulsive-aggressive personality traits).”
Hendricks says the take-home message from this study is that classic psychedelics may hold great promise in the prevention of suicide and evaluating the therapeutic effectiveness of classic psychedelics should be a priority for future research.