Safety of psychedelics for older adults assessed in new study

The author of this interesting piece in Lucid News, referring to an excellent recent paper The safety and efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies for older adults: Knowns and unknowns, comments: "In a new review of clinical trials published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, researchers suggest psychedelics are safe for older adults when used in controlled therapeutic contexts, but that this safety profile has not been established for older adults with health issues such as cardiovascular disease.  This caution is notable as 60% of older adults manage at least two chronic health conditions and 75% of adults over the age of 60 have been diagnosed with hypertension, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control. These health challenges reflect common issues that may contraindicate psychedelic use among the elderly.  In their paper, titled “The Safety and Efficacy of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies for Older Adults: Knowns and Unknowns,” the authors also suggest that older adults are prone to develop psychological distress from their illnesses, including cancer anxiety and bereavement-related grief. They note that this distress might be effectively treated with psychedelic-assisted therapies.  Reviewing clinical trials over roughly the last 30 years that examine psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapies, the authors found almost no reports of serious adverse reactions in study participants, including in older adults. They note, however, that “most study participants administered psychedelics have been relatively healthy and very few were over the age of 60.”

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