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I took a quick look. From the paper: >Past year mental health indicators new to this study were suicide thoughts, suicide plan...[etc] So, it looks like 'past

I took a quick look. From the paper: >Past year mental health indicators new to this study were suicide thoughts, suicide plan...[etc] So, it looks like 'past year' applies to all of the terms. I think the study was looking at the long term effects, so if people who quit long ago didn't report any issues, that would support the thesis that 'taking psychedelics doesn't affect long term mental health'. I'm generally not a fan of studies about illegal activity that use voluntary surveys, but this one doesn't look poorly run. However, once you start putting maths to psychology, things get weird very quickly and it's difficult to tell what's valid and what isn't.

throwawayaway 12y ago
Thank you for taking the time. I disagree, I don't think they mention "long term" mental health anywhere. They just say mental health without qualifying it. In fact they only mention "long-term" benefits. I find it really objectionable that it's titled: "Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study" while looking at whole lifetime usage and comparing with past year effects. If there was suicidal behaviour("successful" or otherwise) and mental health problems in the immediate aftermath of taking psychedelics over a lifetime, they don't really have any way of capturing that information unless it's happened in the last 12 months. We agree that the "past year" applies to all of the terms. Just seems really irresponsible to me, but I'm clearly biased.