These LSD-based drugs seem to help mice with anxiety and depression — without the trip

Drugs like magic mushrooms and LSD can act as powerful and long-lasting antidepressants. But they also tend to produce mind-bending side-effects that limit their use.

Now, scientists report in the journal Nature that they have created drugs based on LSD that seem to relieve anxiety and depression – in mice – without inducing the usual hallucinations.

"We found our compounds had essentially the same antidepressant activity as psychedelic drugs," says , an author