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Lifelong LSD use is associated with a higher likelihood of severe psychological distress after job loss, according to a new study published in the open access journal PLUS ONE by Benjamin Korman, formerly University of Konstanz, Germany.

Previous studies have found that people who use psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) score higher on scales of positive psychological traits than non-users, but whether this translates into better resilience to stressful life events is unclear.

The new work used publicly available data from the 2008-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health on the civilian, non-institutionalized population of the United States. Dr. Korman analyzed data from 15,854 adults who were employed in the past year but were unemployed and looking for work at the time of the survey.

A total of 520 of the respondents included in the analysis reported having used LSD before losing their job. These individuals were approximately 1.6 to 1.7 times more likely to report severe psychological distress in the past month than those who did not report such LSD use. Likewise, previous LSD use was associated with more severe symptoms of (non-severe) psychological distress in the past month. These associations remained even after accounting for sociodemographic variables.

Dr. Korman says the current study was unable to find evidence that LSD users become more psychologically resilient to future stressors. However, he also notes that the study was unable to account for the temporal relationship between LSD use and job loss. In addition, the results cannot be extrapolated to draw conclusions about other types of psychedelics, other types of life stressors, or the clinical use of LSD.

Dr. Korman adds: “This study challenges previous findings linking classic psychedelic drug use with psychological strength and resilience by showing that prior lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) use is associated with greater psychological distress following subsequent job loss.”