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Condition

Psychedelics for distress in serious illness: what the evidence shows

Anxiety, depression and existential distress that come with cancer or another life-threatening illness.

Last reviewed 23 October 2026Re-checked every month3 substances with published evidence

Where are these treatments legal?See country-by-country rules on our Psychedelic Therapy Legality Map

Substance by substance

One card per substance, strongest evidence first. A substance that isn’t here has no published clinical evidence for this condition yet.

LSD

Early research

Small controlled trials, an old idea revisited.

A 12-person pilot found LSD-assisted therapy reduced anxiety linked to life-threatening disease.1

A larger Phase 2 trial (42 people with anxiety, with or without serious illness) confirmed lasting reductions in anxiety.2

Everything LSD has been tested for →

Psilocybin

Early research

Among the most replicated findings in the field, but still small trials.

Two randomised trials in people with life-threatening cancer found large, lasting drops in depression and anxiety after one supported session.34

A newer open-label study of 30 people with cancer and depression tested psilocybin in a group format and also saw sizeable improvements.5

Everything psilocybin has been tested for →

MDMA

Early research

One small pilot.

In an 18-person randomised pilot in people with life-threatening illness, MDMA-assisted therapy showed a trend towards lower anxiety. Too small to draw conclusions.6

Everything MDMA has been tested for →

Keep reading

Cancer Patient Faces Hurdles After Diagnosis — Could Psychedelics Help End-of-Life Care?Where supervised psilocybin access for end-of-life anxiety exists, and why getting it is still hard.Read the article Can Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Help With Severe Anxiety?Which psychedelics actually have evidence for anxiety, broken down with a research expert.Read the article Locked in Schedule 1. UK and the Psilocybin QuestionA UK poll finds broad support for psilocybin therapy, yet it stays in Schedule 1. Does reality match public opinion?Read the article Research databaseNew studies, summarisedHundreds of papers on psychedelics and mental health, each with a plain-language summary and key facts.Browse the database

Sources

Numbered in the order they appear above. We only use peer-reviewed papers, official company announcements (for trial status and topline results), regulators and trial registries.

  1. Gasser P et al. Safety and efficacy of LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2014Journal
  2. Holze F et al. Lysergic acid diethylamide-assisted therapy in patients with anxiety with and without a life-threatening illness: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II study. Biol Psychiatry. 2023Journal
  3. Griffiths RR et al. Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer. J Psychopharmacol. 2016Journal
  4. Ross S et al. Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer. J Psychopharmacol. 2016Journal
  5. Agrawal M et al. Psilocybin-assisted group therapy in patients with cancer diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. Cancer. 2024Journal
  6. Wolfson PE et al. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of anxiety and other psychological distress related to life-threatening illnesses: a randomized pilot study. Sci Rep. 2020Journal