Single dose of LSD shows promise in treating anxiety, new U.S. study finds

A new North American study has found a single supervised dose of LSD can dramatically ease anxiety symptoms — and even put some patients into remission — without the need for ongoing therapy.

Researchers tested a pharmaceutical version of the psychedelic drug, called MM120, on 198 adults with generalized anxiety disorder.

“This is a chronic, impairing condition that affects about 10 per cent of the global population,” said Dr. Maurizio Fava, chair of psychiatry at the Mass General Brigham Academic Medical Centre in Boston.

After 12 weeks, Fava says 65 per cent of people who got a single 100-milligram dose said their symptoms improved dramatically.

“If you can actually get people better with a single session, and that effect appears to last several weeks, that’s very exciting.”

However, Fava stresses that more research is needed before American regulators will consider approving the drug for medical use.

He says the current trial is a Phase 2B study; Phase 3 trials will be required to replicate the results before any application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Fava hopes that, if Phase 3 trials go well, regulators could approve the treatment “in the near future.”

“Traditional treatments for generalized anxiety require daily dosing and chronic treatment. So the novelty here is that a single treatment can get you better for many, many weeks,” Fava told 1130 NewsRadio.

The study also found notable improvements in depressive symptoms, suggesting the drug could be tested for other conditions such as depression and PTSD.

Fava added that he was not aware of similar Canadian studies underway.

Psychedelics have drawn growing scientific interest because of their potential to promote synaptic plasticity — the brain’s ability to form new connections — which researchers believe may underlie their therapeutic effects.