Could dropping acid treat anxiety disorders? Researchers at a Cleveland hospital are running clinical trials using LSD to treat anxiety disorders in Ohio.
Patients involved in the Cleveland study haven’t had much luck with available prescribed treatments. They are turning to LSD, which was originally developed as a respiratory stimulant in the late 30s and later used to treat psychiatric disorders before becoming a counterculture recreational drug.
Drug company MindMed, which manufactures and distributes psychedelic drugs for medical purposes, is sponsoring the study at Cleveland Clinic Lutheran Hospital. According to the National Institutes of Health, drug studies sponsored by pharmaceutical companies are more likely to have results that favor the drug company than studies with other sponsors. The company is also testing psychedelic drugs as treatments for ADHD, opioid withdrawal, depression, and cluster headaches.
This experiment will be what’s called a double-blind study, where some participants will receive a placebo (which means they’ll be dosed with pretend medicine that does nothing) and others the actual psychedelic drug. Doctors will monitor the patients right after they are dosed and check back in with them in a month to see if those who actually received the drugs have fewer anxiety symptoms that those who received the placebo.
The hospital is seeking trial participants now and won’t just be limited to patients from Ohio. Doctors say the results of the study could lead to LSD being approved by the FDA as a treatment for anxiety.