Hundreds of Anecdotal Reports Claim Psychedelics Could Treat Stuttering

Researchers from New York University have found that psychedelic substances like psilocybin and LSD could benefit those with a stutter.

The recent study, published in the Journal of Fluency Disorders, analyzed self-reported experiences from users on Reddit who stutter and have used psychedelics. Throughout the 114 publically available posts on the site, 74% of users reported “positive overall short-term effects particularly related to behavioral and emotional change (e.g., reduced stuttering and anxiety)” (1).

These findings are promising for those who stutter but do not have an effective enough treatment to manage their symptoms. Although therapy can help stuttering, no FDA-approved drugs currently exist to treat the condition.

According to the lead author of the study, Eric S. Jackson, “Given the positive effects of psychedelics on conditions like anxiety and PTSD, which share symptoms with stuttering, we think that investigating the potential impact of psychedelics on stuttering can be a fruitful area of research.”

However, since the results of the study are based on anecdotal reports, more research is required to confirm whether psychedelics are a viable treatment option for those who stutter and determine the mechanisms responsible for the observed effects. The study authors emphasize the need for controlled clinical trials, but until then, the potential of psychedelics to treat stuttering remains an exciting yet unproven possibility.

“The results support the possibility that psychedelics may impact stuttering, but caution must be applied in their interpretation given the entirely uncontrolled research setting and potential adverse health effects of psychedelics as reported elsewhere. While these results do not encourage the use of psychedelics by stutterers, they suggest that future work could examine the impact of psychedelics on stuttering under supervised and in clinically controlled settings.”

References

1. Jackson, Eric S, Noam Goldway, Hope Gerlach-Houck, and Noah D Gold. 2024. “Stutterers’ Experiences on Classic Psychedelics: A Preliminary Self-Report Study.” Journal of Fluency Disorders, May, 106062–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2024.106062.