Study Finds That the Mental Wellbeing Effects of Psilocybin Vary by Race

A new study has found that while all ethnic and racial groups can benefit from using psilocybin, some effects vary depending on the ethnic or racial group that an individual belongs to. More specifically, the mental flexibility and spiritual wellbeing improvements resulting from psilocybin use aren’t as pronounced and don’t persist for long among individuals of color when compared to these same effects in White people.

The researchers were motivated to conduct this study after observing that the participants in most studies on psychedelics tended to be predominantly White. The team wondered whether the findings of such studies could be applicable to different ethnic or racial groups and they designed a study to specifically get insights on whether differences in the effects of hallucinogens varied based on which racial or ethnic group an individual belonged to.

They were especially interested in studying the psychedelic effects on people who use these substances in non-clinical settings since most users of these substances don’t do so clinically.

To get the answers they sought, the team used a longitudinal study design, a system in which participants are followed for a long time to assess how they are affected at different durations after the study.

The timeline of the research was categorized into six distinct stages, with the first being the point at which adults signed up for the study, followed by the point at which they completed a questionnaire that would provide baseline information about these participants with regard to several parameters, such as their ethnicity. A day before the participants took psilocybin marked the third stage and the fourth stage was the questionnaire completed 2-3 days from the day psilocybin was consumed. Stage 5 was 2-4 weeks post-psychedelic use while stage six was 2-3 months from the day the participants had their psychedelic experience.

From an analysis of the data obtained from the surveys administered at each of those stages, the team found that White participants and People of Color all exhibited similar degrees of reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms after their psilocybin experience.

The divergence in outcomes was observed on parameters like mental flexibility and spiritual well-being. For mental flexibility, People of Color exhibited a negligible (statistically non-significant) level of improvement during stage six of the study unlike White individuals that showed statistically significant levels of improvement at this stage. As for spiritual well-being, White individuals reported higher levels at stage six when compared to their Colored counterparts.

The study highlights an interplay of ethnicity and race and how those factors impact the long-term effects of psychedelics. More research is needed to document these differences so that appropriate interventions can be undertaken to optimize the benefits of psychedelics for different groups. Hopefully, the drug development programs being undertaken by companies like Mind Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: MNMD) (NEO: MMED) (DE: MMQ) will provide some additional insights on how different groups of people benefit or don’t benefit from a given hallucinogen.

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