MM120, a pharmaceutical form of LSD, shown to reduce anxiety symptoms (2025)

3/16/2026 at 12:53:21 PM

I'd argue that the results might not be from the drugs but from the fact that they were heavily monitored by other humans.

It's not the drugs that people with high anxiety need, it's people giving them attention and caring for them.

These experiments need a control where they just take the drug and they don't have medical staff around.

by tim-projects

3/16/2026 at 12:59:13 PM

Isn't that basically the same as them using a placebo? If just care has the same effect, then surely heavily monitoring them while providing a placebo drug should work.

by throwaway12pol

3/16/2026 at 7:23:16 PM

But that doesn't test if the LSD helps in a non-clinical setting, only that the monitoring and attention helps

by butlike

3/16/2026 at 6:50:31 PM

The problem is you can very obviously tell that you have a placebo because nothing is happening. Some studies mitigate that issue by giving a microdose but then maybe only the microsose is necessary? It seems like a hard problem

by cassepipe

3/16/2026 at 12:59:21 PM

"In this phase 2b, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 4 dose levels of MM120 that included 198 adults with generalized anxiety disorder, the primary outcome of a dose-response relationship for change in Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale score at week 4 was statistically significant."

by lacunary

3/16/2026 at 2:59:27 PM

The control is where you have the medical staff around but not the drug. I believe placebo control groups are pretty common.

by adammarples

3/16/2026 at 1:17:36 PM

You are fabricating a lot of details about the study to come to that conclusion.

If only there were experts on the ground, designing the experiment, who could plan to avoid such interfering variables.

by IAmBroom

3/16/2026 at 11:24:53 AM

Unfortunately, I will probably never be able to try that for my GAD even if they confirm the positive effects due to stigma surrounding psychoactive drugs! Yay!

by throwaway12pol

3/16/2026 at 8:01:58 PM

Do you mean it won't be legalized because of stigma, or you personally wouldn't try them because of stigma?

People that think psychedelics are evil are just closed minded people that probably need psychedelics in their life. You probably don't want to pay attention to what they think. If you're genuinely looking for healing there are plenty of people that practice psychedelic assisted therapy around the world that could help you take those first steps. It's underground, but not terribly hard to find with some online searching.

by throwforfeds

3/16/2026 at 5:55:06 PM

Nitpick: you will probably never be able to try it legally.

There are lots of ways you could try LSD tho.

by amarant

3/16/2026 at 7:33:20 PM

Why? Stigma from whom?

MM120 is seeking FDA approval and there are many more in late stage trials for GAD.

by estearum

3/16/2026 at 6:00:32 PM

psilocybin is easy to find (even legally, in certain jurisdictions) or cultivate yourself.

by whalesalad

3/16/2026 at 6:29:23 PM

mhm where i live you can go to a hydro grow store and buy the spores that you definitely SHOULD NOT inject into the aio grow bag conveniently placed nearby lol

by exhumet

3/16/2026 at 6:52:08 PM

Some will sell an already conolized growbox. Much harder to fail than the spores.

by cassepipe

3/16/2026 at 7:24:08 PM

LSD and psilocybin are very different. Wouldn't think it, but it's true

by butlike

3/16/2026 at 12:59:19 PM

I’d be afraid of a treatment like this where you’re sort of different after one treatment. From experience taking ssris, I took one one that worked so well that I had to stop taking it because it removed stress to the extent that I wouldn’t get to class on time or get my homework done before deadlines. Eventually I found a medicine that worked for me. But, if there’s a “before” vs “after” one shot treatment, you have to hope the new you is the one you want assuming you could be stuck there permanently.

by steve-atx-7600

3/16/2026 at 1:05:33 PM

When you have heavy generalized anxiety, you are usually willing to commit to that if it means there is a significant probability of coming out with an improved condition. I had such terrible panic attacks before my treatment with a bunch of different medication that I seriously considered and searched for electroconvulsive therapy and even help from shady religious institutions.

by throwaway12pol

3/16/2026 at 1:08:53 PM

I might have gotten that desperate myself, but I finally found a great physiatrist that gave a shit and was competent. Simply taking Effexor removed my panic attacks without problematic side effects.

by steve-atx-7600

3/16/2026 at 1:11:28 PM

Yeah, changing psychiatrists also helped me. Unfortunately, I had to change drugs a couple of times and ended up taking multiple ones to end my panic attacks. Those drugs left me with long lasting tremors, even after I've stopped taking them, but the tremors are 10000x better than the panic attacks.

by throwaway12pol

3/16/2026 at 7:40:03 PM

My experience was similar, with social anxiety suddenly removed it made me a bit of a dick for a while.

by gs17

3/16/2026 at 4:06:29 PM

I think curing GAD will mean changing your personality. There's always going to be a before/after you, that's the whole point. The important part is being able to reliably know what the "after you" will be so you can be sure that you want that change to happen.

by phito

3/16/2026 at 7:26:19 PM

Curing anything changes your personality. I stopped biting my nails to the quick after 50 years - that's a difference!

The Ship of Theseus argument should never be used to justify retaining mental dysfunction. "What if I can't paint sunflowers if I stop being suicidal?" is a question; more decades of Van Gogh paintings would inarguably have been better.

by IAmBroom

3/16/2026 at 1:01:27 PM

A good point, but if stress was your motivator, it might be better to work to reframe that and gain motivation through something else that isn't stress.

by LazyMans

3/16/2026 at 11:50:59 AM

It seems like every few weeks there's an article on how drugs are amazing hitting the front-page.

by kykat

3/16/2026 at 12:25:49 PM

Where do you go when you need to escape but can't actually go anywhere?

Inwards. Imagination, media, substances, meditation, solitude.

by kubb

3/16/2026 at 7:25:42 PM

To an extent I feel your position, and it can be true in many contexts. I would say, however, that taking a trip to a far off country, and dropping acid serve two different purposes. While I'm sure there's some overlap, you won't get the entirety of the experience from either one exclusively.

by butlike

3/16/2026 at 12:54:42 PM

HN has some peculiar medical fixations. It comes in waves. For a while there were a lot of submissions about intermittent fasting. 15 years ago people were excited about polyphasic sleep. 10 years ago it was all about modafinil. Enthusiasm about ketamine for depression was big, but it seems to have finally fizzled out.

by jml7c5

3/16/2026 at 7:34:59 PM

Ketamine is still used for depression quite effectively.

It's good that techbros' interest in it fizzled out though. Better for everyone that way.

by estearum

3/16/2026 at 2:03:03 PM

Wonder what the approach would be to empirically determine these waves.

by gavmor

3/16/2026 at 1:20:37 PM

"Drugs" can cure polio and dysentary; alleviate headaches and menstrual cramps; lower blood pressure; and regulate brain biochemistry in ways that make dysfunctional people able to function again. And sometimes they enable happy feelings.

Yes, drugs are amazing.

by IAmBroom

3/16/2026 at 12:02:49 PM

Well... drugs are amazing. They're so amazing people will literally die for them.

by thinkingtoilet