Despite the continued widespread dogma and fears surrounding their use, studies have failed to find evidence that psychedelic drugs, such as LSD and magic mushrooms, cause harm to the brain or other organs. Ever since it was suggested that their use can trigger psychosis back in the ‘60s, ideas that they are harmful to mental health have been difficult to shake. Now, two new studies are once again challenging these assertions with a failure to find any links between their use and the development of mental health problems. In fact, one of them actually found an association between their use and reduced psychological distress.
The psychedelics investigated in both studies are the so-called “classical” psychedelics, which are LSD, psilocybin (the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms) and mescaline, which is found in the peyote and San Pedro cacti. As pointed out by Nature, these were chosen because they all act on, or stick to, the same brain cell receptor—the serotonin 2A receptor. Other psychoactive drugs, like MDMA and ketamine, are known to bind to different receptors and also act in different ways. Furthermore, although ketamine is widely used in humans and animals as an anesthetic and has shown a lot of promise as a potent, fast-acting antidepressant, excessive use has been linked to bladder damage.