Canada psychedelic drugs lower your risk of suicide
- Canadian researchers surveyed 800 female sex workers over 4 years
- Those who took psychedelic drugs were 60% less likely to commit suicide
- The study comes months after the FDA approved large-scale trials of ecstasy as a treatment for PTSD
Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com
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Psychedelic drugs decrease suicidal thoughts, a new study claims.
A four-year study by researchers in Canada found female sex workers were far less likely to consider taking their own lives after taking drugs like ecstasy or ayahuasca.
The drugs, they found, were just as effective as therapy at easing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
It comes amid a swell of interest in the idea of using illicit drugs as medicine – with the world’s leading institutions testing the substances as treatments for PTSD, anxiety, autism and depression.
A four-year study by researchers in Canada found female sex workers were far less likely to consider taking their own lives after taking drugs like ecstasy or ayahuasca
The latest study analyzes data on 800 female sex workers in Canada.
The women were tracked from 2010 to 2014, answering questions on their drug use and mental health, including suicidal tendencies.
Lead researcher Elena Argento, of the BC Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, wanted to see how drugs caused or prevented new feelings of suicidal thoughts.
She first ruled out responses from any participants who had already experienced suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide, which left 290 women.
In the final group, 11 percent of them experienced suicidal thoughts at some point over the four-year period.
But for all of them – whether they contemplated suicide or not – psychedelic drugs lowered their likelihood of reaching that point. The study didn’t specify which drugs.
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Conversely, those who took crystal meth – a sedative – were more likely to have suicidal thoughts.
The findings, presented at last week’s Psychedelic Science conference in California, builds on scores of studies pointing in the same direction.
In November, the FDA approved large-scale clinical trials of ecstasy to treat patients with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The phase three trial, funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), involve 230 patients or more.
It is the sixth MAPS-funded study of the rave drug as it rapidly gains widespread support as a potential treatment for psychological disorders and autism.
A previous study cleared 66 percent of participants of PTSD, while another reduced symptoms in 56 percent of patients.
If the trial is successful, ecstasy – also known as MDMA, Molly, and (officially) methylenedioxymethamphetamine – could be publicly available for medical use in 2021.
The rave drug – also known as MDMA, Molly, and (officially) methylenedioxymethamphetamine – induces a chemical high that makes abusers feel extremely happy and empathetic.
It has been banned since 1986, ranked as dangerous as LSD and heroin.
But despite the dangers, there are growing calls in the neuroscience and psychiatry communities for clinical trials to test the medical benefits of MDMA.
In fact, researchers at Stanford University claim the substance could give autistic people a powerful psychological experience that could help them connect better with their therapist.
And now, the Stanford team has penned an open letter in the journal Cell, urging regulators to lift the tight restrictions to let them test humans.
Ultimately, their aim is to prescribe MDMA as a psychiatric aid.
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