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There is a similar effect when consuming alcoholic drinks in social settings: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-020-00321-0 https://link.springer

by sxp 6y ago

There is a similar effect when consuming alcoholic drinks in social settings: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-020-00321-0 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-020-00321-0 > “Our study confirms the benefits of microdosing,..." This is really horrible phrasing since normal the normal usage of the term "benefits" in this context would mean benefits relative to a placebo. In this experiments the benefits are zero since the LSD and control pills had the same effects.

PragmaticPulp 6y ago
There are arguments that the placebo effect plays a large role in the observed treatment effects of psychedelics. One of the hallmarks of psychedelics is a (drug induced) sense of profundity and enlightenment. If you tell someone that they're about to have a life-changing experience, then you give them a drug that induces the feeling of a life-changing experience, it's likely that they'll walk away thinking they've had a life-changing experience and change their behavior accordingly. I agree that their conclusion is borderline misleading. Traditional antidepressant studies also show a high placebo response rate, but approved SSRIs diverge from placebo in studies. Their success is largely measured by how far they diverge from the placebo groups. If an SSRI study showed that the medications were identical to placebo yet concluded that the SSRIs had benefit, it would be soundly rejected. Yet when the same conclusion appears in a study about psychedelics, it seems to get a free pass. I think this speaks volumes about the current bias toward psychedelic medicine.
- eurasiantiger 6y ago
  Dozens and dozens of SSRI studies were never published because they showed no effect compared to placebo. The drug companies selectively publish the 1 in 20 studies that do give a positive result. It is essentially a scam: marketing addictive, mind- and behavior-altering drugs to desperate people who don’t know any better. The drugs don’t help, they just dull emotions and make you not care.

by sxp 6y ago

PragmaticPulp 6y ago

There are arguments that the placebo effect plays a large role in the observed treatment effects of psychedelics. One of the hallmarks of psychedelics is a (drug induced) sense of profundity and enlightenment. If you tell someone that they're about to have a life-changing experience, then you give them a drug that induces the feeling of a life-changing experience, it's likely that they'll walk away thinking they've had a life-changing experience and change their behavior accordingly. I agree that their conclusion is borderline misleading. Traditional antidepressant studies also show a high placebo response rate, but approved SSRIs diverge from placebo in studies. Their success is largely measured by how far they diverge from the placebo groups. If an SSRI study showed that the medications were identical to placebo yet concluded that the SSRIs had benefit, it would be soundly rejected. Yet when the same conclusion appears in a study about psychedelics, it seems to get a free pass. I think this speaks volumes about the current bias toward psychedelic medicine.

eurasiantiger 6y ago
Dozens and dozens of SSRI studies were never published because they showed no effect compared to placebo. The drug companies selectively publish the 1 in 20 studies that do give a positive result. It is essentially a scam: marketing addictive, mind- and behavior-altering drugs to desperate people who don’t know any better. The drugs don’t help, they just dull emotions and make you not care.