Behemoth dataset holds insights about psychedelic use and how peer support can help those in distress

A new Research Resource provides a massive database that documents 25,419 psychedelic experiences recorded through interactions on a support hotline, providing a way to understand psychedelic use outside the clinic. For decades, psychedelic research stalled due to restrictive policies governing the accessibility of psychedelic drugs’ active compounds. Although investigation of the compounds’ effects has resumed, knowledge about psychedelic experiences – including how to support distressed users – remains scarce. Felix Schoeller and colleagues have created the Fireside Database, containing 25,419 peer support interactions documented via the Fireside Project’s Psychedelic Support Line. Interactions involved 220 trained volunteers and took place between April 2021 and February 2026. The dataset contains conversation logs linked to 2,777 post-interaction caller satisfaction surveys and volunteer-completed, post-conversation surveys. Details recorded include time, date, communication type (text or voice), duration, call direction (incoming or outgoing), call classification, and volunteer identity. Psilocybin dominated 59.9% of the reported interactions. Distress rates were fairly similar for all reported substances, which included ketamine, MDMA, ayahuasca, LSD, and other compounds. Of all, cannabis ranked highest with a 47.2% distress rate. “Cannabis merits particular attention because it occupies a unique policy position: it is the most widely legalized psychoactive substance in the U.S. yet is largely excluded from both psychedelic harm reduction frameworks and mental health crisis infrastructure,” Schoeller et al. write. However, the finding could be because active cannabis users contacted the hotline far more than users of other substances. “The observed distress rate therefore reflects the proportion of help-seekers in distress, not the probability that a typical cannabis user will experience a crisis,” the authors caution.