Anti-depressants can dull a psychedelic trip, so are people taking bigger risks?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-11-25 09:09

New Zealand; International

PHOTO: Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

A lack of information about how LSD and magic mushrooms interact with SSRI anti-depressants may lead to people taking higher drug doses or skipping their meds, according to NZ researchers. In their analysis of 40 descriptions of trips posted to an experience-recording website, 26 reported reduced visual and sensory effects compared to trips without SSRIs, often leading to these risky behaviors. Experiences varied between individuals, but 9 still had mystical experiences (thought to be important for mental health benefits), and harmful interactions between psychedelics and SSRIs seemed rare, especially with magic mushrooms. Acknowledging their small sample size and the limitations of self-reported experiences, the researchers said that there is a pressing need for accessible and accurate information to support safer decision-making.

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Research Elsevier, Web page Paper freely available.

Journal/
conference: Psychedelics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Victoria University of Wellington

Funder: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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