You may have heard that psychedelics are enjoying a recent surge in popularity. Scientists in the US and the UK have been using psilocybin—the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms—to treat addiction, depression, and existential anxiety. But not every trip is a pleasant experience, and researchers are suddenly interested in figuring out a predictive model for what happens when psychedelics take people to dark places.
In one recent study, a team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine surveyed 1,993 people who’d had “challenging psychological experiences” (read: bad trips) while on shrooms. The idea was to help assess their safety for therapeutic use. In an online questionnaire that sounds a lot like Yelp for recreational drug users, the participants described their trips, rated their experiences, and discussed the negative psychological and emotional after-effects.
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