A single dose of LSD seems to reduce anxiety
About half of people with generalised anxiety disorder don’t respond to common treatments with antidepressants – but psychedelics may offer relief
By Carissa Wong
4 September 2025
Can psychedelics help treat generalised anxiety disorder?
Science Photo Library/Alamy
A single dose of the psychedelic drug LSD seems to reduce anxiety without lasting side effects.
“Ours is the first modern trial to look specifically at LSD, or any psychedelic, for generalised anxiety disorder,” says Dan Karlin at biotech company MindMed in New York.
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The condition is characterised by excessive worry about a broad range of things, such as work and relationships. First-line treatment includes mood-enhancing drugs, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other antidepressants, and talking therapies.
But about half of people don’t respond to such treatments. “For a lot of people, SSRIs are not very effective, they have intolerable side effects [such as feeling emotionally numb] because people have to take them on a daily basis, and they only work while you’re taking them,” says Karlin.
Previous studies have suggested that LSD may be an alternative. The psychedelic is often used recreationally for its mind-altering, hallucinogenic effects. Karlin says it is thought to act by increasing levels of the mood-boosting chemical serotonin in the brain, which some people say induces a profound emotional experience in them. He adds that it may also enhance the brain’s ability to rewire itself and form new thought patterns.