Hallucinogenic drug use and depression, psychological distress and suicidality among disabled adults in the US

While recent nationally representative studies have evaluated the association between hallucinogen use and mental health events, little is known about these associations among disabled adults. Our primary aim was to use national data from the 2021, 2022, and 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to determine how past-year use of specific hallucinogens is associated with disabled adults reporting past-year SPD, MDE, and suicidality. A subsample of adults ages 18 to 50 years old (n = 107,781) was drawn from the 2021–2023 combined NSDUH dataset for this analysis. Descriptive analyzes generated weighted prevalence estimates for hallucinogen use and mental health outcomes, and crude odds ratios for experiencing a mental health outcome among past year hallucinogen users were estimated in comparison to non-hallucinogen users, stratified by disability status. The weighted prevalence of hallucinogen use in the past year was significantly higher among disabled (8.37 %) compared to nondisabled adults (4.86 %; p < 0.0001). Among disabled adults who used hallucinogens in the past year, 48.87 % reported a major depressive episode, 68.93 % reported a serious psychological distress indicator, and 39.65 % reported suicidal thinking, planning, or attempt. About 4 % of disabled adults reported that hallucinogen use in the past year worsened or caused emotional or mental health problems. Findings provide evidence of differences to the degree that disabled adults are using hallucinogens in comparison to nondisabled adults using a nationally representative sample. These findings provide new data to help understand hallucinogen use in relation to mental health events among this population.