Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)-Assisted Psychotherapy in People With Illness-related Anxiety

LSD-assisted Psychotherapy in Persons Suffering From Anxiety Associated With Advanced-stage Life Threatening Diseases. A Phase-II, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Dose-response Pilot Study

This study will find out whether psychotherapy combined with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is safe and is helpful in people who are anxious because they have a potentially fatal disease. The study will measure anxiety and quality of life before and after people have two sessions with either full or active placebo dose of LSD. They expect LSD-assisted psychotherapy to reduce anxiety and improve quality of life.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

Diagnosis with a potentially fatal illness is distressing and can provoke anxiety that further reduces quality of life, and a treatment that reduces anxiety when facing deteriorating health and mortality will improve quality of life for people with such illnesses. Forty to fifty years ago, researchers investigated lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in combination with psychotherapy to treat anxiety when facing advanced stage cancer. This psychedelic (hallucinogenic) drug can produce transformative or mystical experiences and insights that can help in anxiety reduction. This study will be a randomized, active placebo controlled,double-blind pilot study of the safety and efficacy of LSD-assisted psychotherapy as a way of reducing anxiety in people with potentially fatal illnesses. This study will examine whether two sessions of LSD-assisted psychotherapy scheduled two to four weeks apart will reduce anxiety and improve quality of life for people experiencing anxiety as a result of a potentially fatal illness.

Study subjects will receive either 200 or 20 mcg (micrograms) LSD during two day-long psychotherapy sessions scheduled two to four weeks apart. Subjects in this study will have a 66% of receiving the full dose of 200 mcg LSD, and they have a 33% chance of getting the active placebo dose of 20 mcg LSD. Neither the researchers nor the subject will know whether he got 200 or 20 mcg LSD. Upon participant agreement, all psychotherapy sessions will be recorded to audio and video.

The randomized part of the study will last three and a half months (14 weeks).

People who learn they got the active placebo dose of LSD during the randomized phase can go on to to take part in an "open label" study phase, where they will get the full dose of LSD during two day-long psychotherapy sessions scheduled two to four weeks apart. "Open label" means that they and the researchers will both be aware that they are getting the full dose of LSD.

Participants who received the full dose of LSD and took part in all study visits will be assessed for symptoms of anxiety and depression and quality of life 12 months after their final experimental session.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

12

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Solothurn, Switzerland
        • Private Practices of Peter Gasser MD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Have a diagnosis of advanced-stage potentially fatal illness. As well as metastatic cancer this may include autoimmune, neurological, infectious or rheumatoid diseases as well. The participant must have a probability of survival of more than six months. The estimated life expectancy in relation to the study must be documented.
  • The participant makes the decision to participate in the study by his or her own will and that there is no inhibition to his or her will or ability of deciding due to the primary disease.
  • Meet DSM-IV criteria for Anxiety Disorder as indicated by the SCID or have a score of at least 40 on each part of the STAI.
  • Have failed to respond adequately or at all to medication or psychotherapy intended to reduce anxiety, or have refused to take anxiolytic medication.
  • May be diagnosed with another affective disorder other than anxiety disorder, except bipolar-I disorder.
  • Are at least 18 years of age.
  • Are willing to commit to medication dosing, experimental sessions, follow-up sessions, and to complete evaluation instruments (although they may withdraw from the study at any time without cause).
  • Are willing to withdraw from taking any psychiatric medications during the experimental session period. Drugs must be discontinued long enough before the first LSD treatment session to avoid the possibility of a drug-drug interaction (the interval will be at least 5 times the particular drug's half-life).
  • If in ongoing psychotherapy, those recruited into the study may continue to see their outside therapist, provided they sign a release for the investigators to communicate directly with their therapist. Participants should not change therapists, increase or decrease the frequency of therapy or commence any new type of therapy until after the evaluation session 2 months after the second LSD treatment session.
  • Participants must agree that, for one week preceding each LSD treatment session:
  • a. Clinical judgment will be used to determine permissible herbal supplements.
  • b. They will not initiate any new prescription medications (except with prior approval of the research team).
  • c. Clinical judgment will be used to determine permissible nonprescription medications.
  • Participants must be willing to follow restrictions and guidelines concerning consumption of food, beverages and nicotine the night before and just prior to each LSD session.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Women who are pregnant or nursing, or of child bearing potential and are not practicing an effective means of birth control.
  • Anyone with past or present diagnosis with a primary psychotic disorder.
  • Meeting DSM-IV criteria for Dissociative Disorder or Bipolar-I Affective Disorder.
  • Meeting DSM-IV criteria for abuse of or dependence on any substance (other than caffeine or nicotine) in the past 60 days.
  • Diagnosed with significant somatic problems, that in the clinical judgment of the investigators poses too great a potential for side effects.
  • No sufficient liver function at the baseline examination or the day before the experimental sessions.
  • Having evidence of CNS affection from the primary disease (e.g. brain metastasis), shown by neurocognitive impairment.
  • Weighing less than 45 kg.
  • Reasonably judged to present a serious suicide risk or who are likely to require psychiatric hospitalization during the course of the study.
  • Unable to fully understand the potential risks and benefits of the study and give informed consent.
  • Requiring ongoing concomitant therapy with a psychotropic drug (other than as needed, anxiety medications, and pain control medications) and are unable or unwilling to comply with the washout period.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Full Dose LSD (200 mcg)
200 mcg LSD administered once during each of two LSD-assisted therapy sessions, scheduled two to four weeks apart.
Administering 200 mcg LSD orally once at the start of each of two day-long psychotherapy session
Other Names:
  • Lysergic acid diethylamide
Therapy provided by male and female co-therapists
Active Comparator: Active Placebo LSD (20 mcg)
20 mcg LSD administered once during each of two LSD-assisted therapy sessions, scheduled two to four weeks apart.
Therapy provided by male and female co-therapists
Administer 20 mcg LSD orally once at the start of each of two day-long psychotherapy session
Other Names:
  • Lysergic acid diethylamide

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Baseline State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
Time Frame: Baseline (Visit 4)
The STAI differentiates between State Anxiety, defined as "anxiety experienced in reaction to a specific environmental circumstance," and Trait Anxiety, defined as "long-standing nervous affect or anxiety disorder." The STAI-state subscale is a 20-item self-reported scale which assesses subjects' levels of transient, situationally oriented, anxiety. Participants respond to each item by selecting a response from a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 4 ("Not at all") to 1 ("Very much so"). STAI-state scores are summed for a total score that range from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater state anxiety. The STAI-trait subscale also consists of 20-items and is scored the same way, with total scores ranging from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater trait anxiety.
Baseline (Visit 4)
Primary Endpoint State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
Time Frame: 2 months after second experimental session
The STAI differentiates between State Anxiety, defined as "anxiety experienced in reaction to a specific environmental circumstance," and Trait Anxiety, defined as "long-standing nervous affect or anxiety disorder." The STAI-state subscale is a 20-item self-reported scale which assesses subjects' levels of transient, situationally oriented, anxiety. Participants respond to each item by selecting a response from a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 4 ("Not at all") to 1 ("Very much so"). STAI-state scores are summed for a total score that range from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater state anxiety. The STAI-trait subscale also consists of 20-items and is scored the same way, with total scores ranging from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater trait anxiety.
2 months after second experimental session

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Gasser, MD, Private practices of Peter Gasser; Swiss Medical Association for Psycholytic Therapy (SAPT)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

February 1, 2008

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 14, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 12, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 12, 2009

First Posted (Estimated)

June 15, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 12, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 10, 2023

Last Verified

July 1, 2023

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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