I'd definitely advise anyone thinking about this to do their research but the risk doesn't seem to be as large as often suggested. There was a large US study that showed no correlation between lifetime psychedelic use and mental health problems.
"[...] lifetime use of LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, or peyote, or past year use of LSD, was not associated with a higher rate of mental health problems."
“Life time use” and “one time use triggering latent psychological conditions” are very different. Of course those who use over a long period of time aren’t showing adverse conditions. The ones who were triggered stayed away.
> Of those, 14% described themselves as having used at any point in their lives any of the three ‘classic’ psychedelics: LSD, psilocybin (the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms) and mescaline (found in the peyote and San Pedro cacti). The researchers found that individuals in this group were not at increased risk of developing 11 indicators of mental-health problems such as schizophrenia, psychosis, depression, anxiety disorders and suicide attempts.
> the risk doesn't seem to be as large as often suggested
The anti-depressant business model is genius: (a) They're sold at a very high price point, (b) they generally make you factually dependent for quite some time (and they're quite hard to quit). It's one of big pharma's preferred multi-billion cash cows.
Now you know who's interested in spreading fear, doubt and uncertainty regarding cheap and effective competing substances such as LSD and psilocybin. And this industry has the resources to effectively influence public discussion forums such as HN, Reddit, Slashdot, etc.
You say that with such authority, but in my personal experience they can absolutely cause dependency. I've had long-lasting withdrawal effects from certain SSRIs that were both physically and mentally painful.
I understand the word "dependency" to be synonymous with what you're calling discontinuation effects. So, I think I agree with you now. Thanks for the following up with your clarification.
"[...] lifetime use of LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, or peyote, or past year use of LSD, was not associated with a higher rate of mental health problems."
https://www.nature.com/news/no-link-found-between-psychedeli... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3747247/