People with eating disorders rate cannabis and psychedelics as more helpful than antidepressants in a large global self-medication survey

Cannabis and psychedelics are reported as more effective than antidepressants for easing eating disorder symptoms, based on a large international survey of people who self-medicate. Respondents rated non-prescribed substances including cannabis and psychedelics such as magic mushrooms (psilocybin) and LSD as best for alleviating symptoms. In contrast, commonly prescribed medications like antidepressants were rated as less effective for eating disorder relief, even though they were seen as helpful for general mental health. The study also reports patterns by disorder type: cannabis was highly rated by people with restrictive eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and ARFID, while prescription stimulants were rated differently across conditions. The findings are positioned as a prompt for additional research, including planned clinical trials of psilocybin in anorexia nervosa and a near-complete pilot study of CBD in young people with severe anorexia.