(Wired) – For years, people from CEOs to novelists have taken tiny amounts of psychedelics to support well-being. New research shows that benefits for depression may be attributable to a placebo effect.

A Phase 2B trial of 89 adult patients conducted by Melbourne-based MindBio Therapeutics, investigating the effects of microdosing LSD in the treatment of major depressive disorder, found that the psychedelic was actually outperformed by a placebo. Across an eight-week period, symptoms were gauged using the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), a widely recognized tool for the clinical evaluation of depression. (Read More)