Much of the research investigating LSD as a possible treatment for anxiety has focused on patients with terminal illness facing end-of-life anxiety. However, recent studies are also looking at LSD as a treatment for both generalized anxiety as well as social anxiety.
Early studies with LSD researched the possibility of using LSD in alleviating the distress associated with life-threatening illnesses, in particular terminal cancer. This research set the stage for other studies that came later using psilocybin and MDMA to investigate the psychedelic experience as a means to improving quality of life by alleviating anxiety related to the fear of death from illness. In one study, the researchers noted that for terminal cancer patients, their final months were often particularly difficult. This time was “usually marked by increasing depression, psychological isolation, anxiety, and pain” as these people attempt to come to terms with the failure of treatments and the inevitability of their impending death1 .
This study noted that, “In recent years [the 1960s] considerable attention has been focused upon attempts to alleviate the psychological stress and physical pain experienced by the dying cancer patient… but there has been little improvement in methods…the suffering caused by terminal cancer is an area urgently in need of more effective treatment.”
The authors of the study commented that research was showing that using LSD had both a significant analgesic effect and reduced depression and anxiety related to death. They suggested that with further studies LSD may one day prove to be an efficacious treatment for alleviating negative symptoms associated with life-threatening illness.
In a more recent 2014 investigation, a double-blind, randomized, active placebo-controlled pilot study of 12 participants with life-threatening illness, who also underwent psychotherapy sessions, participated in two LSD-assisted sessions, two to three weeks apart. The active group of patients were given a high dose of LSD and the control group of patients received a low dose of LSD. After the initial blinded research, participants could choose to join an open-label study and knowingly engage in LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions2 .
Using STAI to measure levels of anxiety, researchers found significant reduction in anxiety with large effect sizes and no adverse effects beyond one-day post-treatment for all participants receiving the active dose. Researchers in this study also found that the reductions in anxiety persisted at a 12-month follow-up.
Other nascent research has found that LSD may be effective at reducing pain, which could have potential applications for end-of-life care and reduced use of potent prescription pain medications with potentially more serious side effects3 .
Most recently, the FDA cleared a U.S. biotech company to launch a Phase 2b study with 200 participants in early 2022 to test the efficacy of a “pharmacologically optimized” form of LSD in participants with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)4 .
Several drug development companies are now investigating LSD to develop treatments for anxiety disorders. Mind Medicine Inc. (also known as MindMed) is working with a team at the University of Basel to explore LSD as a treatment for generalized anxiety disorder. This research, known as Project Lucy, is a continuation of research5 that began in 2014, using double blind placebo methodology to look at the use of LSD for end-of-life anxiety, producing successful results. Another company, Cybin Inc, has been looking into social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder as an application for their proprietary CYB004 molecule.
It is important to note that, although LSD has the potential to treat anxiety disorders in clinical, therapeutic contexts, LSD may also cause anxiety for many people.
