---
title: "LSD Is Helping People End Their Alcohol Dependence"
description: "A new study suggests that consuming psychedelics, such as LSD or magic mushrooms, may help people overcome their alcohol dependency."
date: "2019-05-17"
modified: "2019-05-17"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/psychedelics-alcohol-dependence"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "addiction"
  - "alcohol"
  - "psychedelics"
  - "the digest"
---

# LSD Is Helping People End Their Alcohol Dependence

![A new study suggests that consuming psychedelics, such as LSD or magic mushrooms, may help people overcome their alcohol dependency.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/psychedelics-alcohol-dependence.png>)
*\<em\>Image: cheifyc via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Kick the Habit

A newly published study suggests that consuming [LSD](<https://futurism.com/lsd-works-brain-scans.md>) or [magic mushrooms](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/denver-decriminalize-magic-mushrooms.md>) may help people overcome alcohol dependency — yet another exciting development in the burgeoning field of [psychedelics research](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/worlds-first-center-psychedelics-research.md>).

"There’s incredible potential here," Johns Hopkins University researcher Matthew Johnson [told *Inverse*](<https://www.inverse.com/article/55918-lsd-psilocybin-alcohol-addiction-stop>). "So far, it’s a good bet that these tools will be broadly applicable to a number of disorders.”

## Survey Says

For the [study](<https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881119845793?journalCode=jopa>), which was published Tuesday in *The Journal of Psychopharmacology*, the researchers used social media and drug discussion websites to track down 343 people who reported a minimum of seven years of problematic drinking prior to having a psychedelic experience.

They then asked the participants — 72 percent of whom met the criteria for alcohol use disorder — to complete anonymous online surveys.

From the surveys, the researchers learned many participants had dramatically decreased the number of drinks they consumed a year after their psychedelic experience. In fact, 83 percent of participants no longer met alcohol use disorder criteria, and 28 percent credited their psychedelic experience for the change in lifestyle.

## Life Changing

It's hard to demonstrate a direct link between the psychedelic experience and the decrease in alcohol consumption. However, Johnson thinks it makes sense that mind-opening drugs could have a positive impact on the lives of people battling alcohol dependence.

"When you talk to someone who has managed to overcome addiction, they often talk about \[how\] they had to answer big picture questions that connect to what’s important in life," he told *Inverse*. "Psychedelics prompt those kinds of questions."

**READ MORE:** [Psychedelics' Role in Beating Alcoholism Illustrated in LSD, Psilocybin Study](<https://www.inverse.com/article/55918-lsd-psilocybin-alcohol-addiction-stop>) \[*Inverse*\]

**More on psychedelics:** *[World’s First Center for Psychedelics Research Opens in UK](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/worlds-first-center-psychedelics-research.md>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)

## More

- [Scientists Might Have Finally Figured out How LSD Works](<https://futurism.com/lsd-works-brain-scans.md>)
- [Study: Magic Mushrooms Helped 83% of People Cut Excessive Drinking](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/study-magic-mushrooms-helped-83-of-people-cut-excessive-drinking.md>)
- [Study Finds LSD Therapy Strikingly Effective at Reducing Anxiety and Depression](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/lsd-therapy-effective-anxiety-depression.md>)
- [Doctors Are Giving Alzheimer’s Patients LSD](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctors-giving-alzheimers-patients-lsd.md>)
- [Evidence Is Growing That LSD Improves Learning and Memory](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/lsd-neuroscience-brain-learning-memory.md>)
- [Research: LSD Microdoses as Effective as Opioids at Treating Pain](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/research-lsd-microdoses-effective-opioids-pain.md>)
- [These Technologists Are Trying to Recreate Psychedelic Trips in VR](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/recreating-psychedelic-trips-virtual-reality.md>)
- [Scientist Tells World Leaders MDMA and Magic Mushrooms Should Be Legal](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientist-world-leaders-magic-mushrooms-mdma-medicines.md>)