This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Age could play an important role in how psychedelic use relates to mental health, according to new research from the Department of Psychology at Durham University. Researchers found that adults with a history of using classic psychedelics, such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and LSD, reported lower levels of anxiety and depression than nonusers, but only in younger age groups. The associations became weaker with increasing age and were no longer evident among older adults.

The research comes amid growing scientific interest in the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

The study, led by Ph.D. researcher Giammarco Di Gregorio under the supervision of Dr. Marco Bocchio and Dr. Michael Lengieza, is published in Scientific Reports.

The team analyzed survey responses from 1,088 adults aged 18 to 55 and older. Participants were asked about their lifetime use of psychedelic substances and completed established measures of anxiety, depression, well-being and life satisfaction.

The researchers stress that the findings do not establish a causal relationship between psychedelic use and mental health. Instead, it identifies an association between lifetime psychedelic use and current mental health, while highlighting age as an important factor that should be explored in future research.

To gather their results, the researchers grouped participants according to whether they had used classic psychedelics, nonclassic psychedelics such as ketamine or MDMA, a combination of both, or neither.

Source link