Here's What an Acid Researcher Says About LSD for Depression

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Today’s feature is a Q&A with Felix Müller, an LSD researcher who breaks down what the latest study on LSD and depression really means (we covered it last week!) for the future of mental health treatment. If you keep scrolling, you’ll find stories on GHB, kitty flipping, and so much more.

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We Asked an LSD Researcher About Regulatory Hurdles, High Doses, and the Future of LSD in Psychedelic Therapy

Felix Müller shares his insights on the future of LSD as a treatment for depression and on what people should and shouldn’t take away from these early findings.

Last week in the Drop In, we covered a study out of Basel, Switzerland, that addresses a decades-old question: Can LSD become a serious contender in the fight against depression, despite its storied reputation? Conducted at the University of Basel’s Department of Psychiatry, the phase 2 clinical trial explored whether high doses of LSD, administered alongside psychotherapy, could ease symptoms of moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder (MDD) more effectively than lower (or micro) doses. The results showed that patients who received up to 200 micrograms of LSD across two sessions experienced significantly greater reductions in depression scores that, in many cases, persisted for months. But the researcher on the study caution that the findings are exploratory and come with caveats, from modest sample sizes to challenges with maintaining blinding in psychedelic trials.

To dig deeper into the implications of this work — and to address questions that naturally arise around safety, efficacy, and the road toward regulatory approval — we reached out to one of the study’s lead authors, Felix Müller. He tells us his ideas on what lies ahead for LSD-assisted therapy and what people should (and shouldn’t!) take away from these early results.

DoubleBlind: Do you think LSD will ever become a legally approved treatment for conditions like major depressive disorder, similar to how ketamine is currently used in clinical settings? From your perspective, is there a realistic timeline for when that might happen?

Felix Müller: I consider market approval to be possible. The pharmaceutical company MindMed is working on studies for market authorization in generalized anxiety disorder, and a larger study for depression is also planned. However, estimating a specific timeline is difficult; it will certainly take a few more years.

People who read your study who might not have access to LSD-assisted therapy, might read this and think that taking 100 or 200 ugs of LSD over 12 weeks will "cure" them of their depression. What would you tell them either about the LSD your team worked with or about the model of LSD+Therapy?

First, I would answer that the participants in the study were not “cured” of their depression. On average, the symptoms of depression decreased. As with other treatments, individual responses vary—some people respond more than others to therapy. For the majority, a certain level of depressive symptomatology remained even after treatment. Lastly, the publication also describes that the administration of LSD took place as part of a larger therapeutic process. I consider this to be very important, especially because LSD can have challenging effects, and good support is essential in this context.

Do you believe that the healing properties of LSD are in the hallucinogenic effects of the drug? 

Personally, I tend to think that the hallucinogenic effects are important, but it is quite likely that there are also pharmacologically relevant effects. Ultimately, this question is still open. We are just starting a study in Basel where people with depression receive DMT with and without short-term anesthesia, to see whether the antidepressant effects of the psychedelic also occur when the person is not conscious.

The study mentions that someone who dropped out of the study died by suicide. Can you give us some background or context of their situation? Can LSD or any psychedelic lead people with MDD to this type of mental state?

 I do not believe that the suicide was related to LSD. The patient was in the low-dose group, and the suicide occurred several months after the completion of the study. We were also in contact with the patient’s relatives. From their perspective as well, LSD had no influence on this tragic course of events. However, I do believe that psychedelics can sometimes cause a temporary psychological destabilization. In my experience with studies and treatments based on special authorizations in Switzerland, this is the most clinically relevant side effect and something that must be taken into account when conducting treatments with psychedelics. 

Can you tell me how you accounted for blinding in the study, especially given the challenge of functional unblinding in psychedelic research?

In this study, we used a low dose of LSD rather than an inactive placebo in the control group. This approach aligns with the current FDA recommendations for studies involving psychedelics. Using this approach, blinding could be improved, but even so, significant unblinding occurred as well. Further progress is still needed in this area. At the same time, the degree of blinding achieved was similar to that seen in many studies of conventional treatments for depression.

Inside the Wild Frontier of 5-MeO-DMT

This Friday, we’re plunging into the mysterious world of 5-MeO-DMT, often referred to as “toad medicine”, where reality blurs and consciousness expands into something beyond words.

Our story follows neuroscientists, retreat leaders, and biotech pioneers as they chase the secrets of this potent compound, probing its mind-altering effects, its therapeutic promise, and the philosophical questions it raises about who we are. From brain scans to boardrooms, the journey is as wild as the molecule itself.

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DoubleBlind Digs

• From queer spirituality to psychedelic healing, Chacruna’s new course dives into how psychedelics intersect with gender, identity, and liberation. Sign up here.

• From Indigenous wisdom to cutting-edge science, the Canadian Psychedelic Summit is where diverse voices gather to shape the future of psychedelic research, therapy, and policy. Join the conversation on Cortes Island this August here.

• The Amazon and Its Wisdom Are Under Threat. Every hectare lost to extractive industries chips away at the rainforest—and at the ancestral knowledge Indigenous healers have safeguarded for centuries. The Union of Indigenous Yagé Medics of the Colombian Amazon (UMIYAC) is fighting to protect sacred lands, defend cultural heritage, and keep traditional medicine alive for future generations. Donate here.

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