Psychedelics are potent drugs with a checkered past yet recently have offered potential promise as a treatment for several mental health conditions. The use of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, and other psychedelics is often touted as a breakthrough, particularly for their ability to drastically reduce the severity of PTSD or depression. But what changes are occurring when the brain interacts with psychedelics? Can LSD cause brain damage? Do psychedelics cause brain damage?
There’s been a change in the attitude toward the use of psychedelics as a treatment in the past few years. Much research and clinical trial studies are underway to better understand the potential benefits and drawbacks or limitations of these drugs. Casual use should never be considered, though, as LSD, psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs are classified as Schedule I drugs by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). As such, their private use is illegal under federal law. Oregon is the first state to legalize psilocybin in 2020. Other states, including California, are considering making possession and sharing psychedelic drugs legal.
There are five classes of drugs, one of which is hallucinogens. (The others include narcotics, stimulants, anabolic steroids and depressants.) Common hallucinogen drugs, all of which distort reality, include:
- LSD is commonly called acid. LSD is a chemically synthesized hallucinogen. It is developed from ergot, a mold that grows on rye grain. The psychedelic trip from LSD typically lasts up to 12 hours.
- Psilocybin, commonly referred to as “magic mushrooms.” It’s the psilocybin in certain fungi that is responsible for the hallucinogenic properties. There are many varieties of hallucinogenic mushrooms, which grow wild in many parts of the world. However, some mushroom varieties are highly toxic and can be lethal to users. The magic mushroom high usually comes on in 30 minutes and can last 4-5 hours.
- Mescaline (peyote). Certain types of cacti, particularly the peyote cactus, contain a naturally occurring hallucinogenic substance called mescaline. Classified as a Schedule I drug, mescaline use is illegal, except for Native American religious ceremonies. The effects of mescaline are like those of LSD and can last about 12 hours.
- Dimethyltryptamine, or DPT. The bark and nuts from certain South and Central American trees contain DMT. Thus, it is a naturally occurring psychedelic that’s plant-based. DPT’s effects are considered like LSD, although lasting much shorter. Typically, the hallucinogenic effects of DPT last an hour.
- Ololiuqui also called “morning glory seeds.” The seeds of the morning glory flower contain the naturally occurring psychedelic ololiuqui. The high achieved from ingesting the seeds normally lasts about 3 hours. While the effects of ololiuqui are like LSD, the substance has some nasty side effects. These include vomiting, high blood pressure, drowsiness, and headache.
- Ecstasy (also called “MDMA”). MDMA is a type of methamphetamine. The categorization of ecstasy as a psychedelic because its hallucinogenic effect isn’t as marked as LSD. Also, the substance’s effects as a stimulant and mood enhancer are more noticeable to users than other types of psychedelics. Delusions and hallucinations are possible while the user is on an ecstasy trip. A bad trip, however, isn’t as common while on ecstasy as it is on magic mushrooms or LSD. Risks of ecstasy use include can dehydration, water intoxication and overheating.
- DMT. This is a naturally occurring psychedelic molecule that exists in many plants. DMT is also produced by the human body. DMT is considered one of the most intense psychedelic drugs.
What makes these drugs similar is the way they distort reality and perception in users. Most hallucinogens, however, are not addictive. The main reason many people use them is for recreational purposes, to escape reality, or explore a deeper consciousness. Some psychedelic drugs are now being extensively researched for their healing and therapeutic purposes.
What We Know About the Changes Psychedelics Make to the Brain
Taking LSD, psilocybin, or other hallucinogens or psychedelics puts the user at risk for potentially dire consequences from changes the drugs may make to the brain. It’s not just a good or bad trip that’s at stake here. At the same time, some emerging research suggests these powerfully potent drugs may offer therapeutic potential, yet scientists still don’t know much about them.
One 2016 study into the effects of LSD, conducted at the Imperial College London, found significant changes in brain blood flow, electrical activity and patterns of network communication correlating with the drug’s consciousness-altering and hallucinatory properties. The researchers said that LSD and psychedelics may reduce the integrity and stability of well-established brain networks, while simultaneously reducing the degrees of segregation or separateness between them.
In the same study, the researchers also expressed hope that more research might uncover the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics. They hypothesized, for example, that psychedelics may be particularly useful in breaking down the negative thought and other behavioral patterns that become entrenched in some psychiatric disorders like depression; and, they recommended further studies to test this hypothesis.
Another study by Yale researchers found that users of LSD and psilocybin in the United States and the United Kingdom reported feelings of “sustained improvement of mood” as well as a closer connection to others, even after the drugs wore off. The study included participants in multi-day music festivals, classifying these individuals as using psychedelics “in the wild” as compared to in a clinical study. Their reported positive feelings, said the researchers, are like those reported by participants in clinical studies using these drugs in controlled laboratory conditions.
Does LSD Change the Brain?
What are the dangers of brain chemistry change and how specifically does LSD change the brain? What changes occur when the brain interacts with psychedelics?
Using multimodal neuroimaging techniques, researchers found:
- Significant brain blood flow changes, patterns of network communication, and electrical activity. These are strongly correlative with LSD’s properties of hallucination and consciousness alteration.
- A suggestion that a much greater portion of the brain plays a part in visual processing while the user is in a LSD state compared with a normal state.
- Increasing evidence that psychedelics reduce both the stability and integrity of users’ well-established brain networks. This leads to the disintegration and desegregation of the brain network.
- Findings with LSD are consistent with previous findings of psilocybin.
Does Acid Damage the Brain?
While LSD research was virtually nonexistent for 50 years, recent studies looked at the psychological effects of the hallucinogen. Still, not a lot is known about the question of whether LSD can cause brain damage.
What we do know is that the long-term effects from using hallucinogens include:
- Persistent psychosis (involving paranoia, visual and mood disturbances and disturbed thinking).
- Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder, or HPPD (involving hallucinations, seeing halos and/or trails attached to objects that are moving, symptoms that could be mistaken for another type of neurological disorder, such as a brain tumor or stroke).
These effects are both unpredictable and rare. They also may occur together. The specific causes are not known, although persistent psychosis and HPPD are more often diagnosed in those who have a history of experiencing psychological problems. Flashbacks in HPPD can occur repeatedly and spontaneously. There is no established HPPD treatment, although psychotherapy and some antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs may help combat fear and confusion and improve mood.
Be Cautious with Experimental Treatments
When someone is suffering intractable depression or depression that’s resistant to treatment, it can be tempting to opt for a treatment that’s experimental like LSD or psychedelics. Readers who suffer from long-term PTSD may have considered psychedelics to rid themselves of symptoms that they’ve endured for so long. Take heed, though, for this may not be the best approach. There are many tried and true treatments for most disorders, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health issues. These should be a preferred approach to restored mental health.
Consider that there’s been significant success in treating those with PTSD and trauma using techniques and therapies including psychotherapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, cognitive processing therapy (CPT), prolonged exposure therapy, present-centered therapy (PCT) and more.
Research into effective therapies and approaches for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) recommends using the least intensive and invasive interventions with the most efficacy first. More work must be done to investigate newer and novel TRD treatments (like psilocybin) for maintaining remission.
If you are thinking about participating in a clinical trial, it should be conducted under rigorous, controlled laboratory conditions. To allay any concerns, be sure to ask any necessary questions about whether LSD can cause brain damage.