Higher doses of LSD can alleviate the symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety disorder

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-09-05 10:30

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It may sound counterintuitive, but US scientists say taking the psychedelic drug LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) appears to help alleviate the symptoms of moderate to severe generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), with higher doses more effective than lower doses. The team ran a 'gold standard' clinical trial including 198 people with GAD, who were given one of four different doses of a drug called MM120 (lysergide D-tartrate) - a pharmaceutical form of LSD that can be taken orally - or an inactive treatment for comparison. Their anxiety symptoms were assessed before and after the single-dose treatment in a controlled environment. Analysing the results, the researchers found no difference in symptoms among patients given the lowest doses of 25 or 50 micrograms, but improvements were seen in those given 100 or 200 micrograms. The most common side effects were, unsurprisingly, visual hallucinations, followed by nausea and headache, but nobody appears to have suffered a 'bad trip'. The scientists say their results support further investigation of higher-dose LSD for the treatment of GAD.