Safety and Well-being

Psychedelics can be dangerous for people who have a personal or family history of primary psychotic or affective disorders like Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective disorder, or Bipolar 1 disorder.  It can also be dangerous for people who experience psychotic symptoms in the setting of depression. This is because it can increase the risk of psychotic episodes in these groups of people [3].

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People with significant trauma histories who have not yet learned fundamental coping skills or developed a safety plan (e.g. the stabilisation phase of trauma treatment) should not take psychedelics for the same reason they should not engage in therapies like cognitive processing therapy or prolonged exposure. Psychedelics can lead to reliving traumatic experiences, and opening up repressed traumatic memories that can lead to significant emotional upheaval that can have [4].

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Similarly, psychedelics are contraindicated in people who’ve previously experienced any adverse effect from these substance such as prolonged psychosis or suicidal ideation [3].