Macquarie University Medical Sciences
Research Project Title: Exploring the impact of hallucinogenic drugs on OCD related symptoms.

You are invited to participate in a study investigating OCD symptoms and hallucinogenic drugs.

To participate in this study, you must live in Australia, New Zealand, the United States or Canada. You must be 18 years or over, fluent in English, and have had at least one experience with the following hallucinogenic drugs (psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, DMT (ayahuasca), mescaline (San Pedro/Peyote), ibogaine (iboga), ketamine, salinorin A (salvia), MDMA (ecstasy), 2C-B), or any functional analogues of these drugs. You must also have experienced symptoms related to OCD.

This study should not be viewed as advocacy of any drug use. Its aim is to investigate the experiences of people who have already self-administered certain psychoactive substances.

The research is being conducted by Dr Vince Polito (vince.polito@mq.edu.au), Ms Dora Szabo (dora.szabo@students.mq.edu.au), Professor Melissa Norberg (melissa.norberg@mq.edu.au) and Dr Christina Perry (christina.perry@mq.edu.au) from the School of Psychological Sciences at Macquarie University.

If you decide to participate, you will be asked to complete an online survey and may be invited to attend one online video interview. Up to 35 individuals will be selected for the interview stage. Selection will be random if more than 35 people indicate an interest in the interview.

In the survey we will ask you questions about your experience of OCD, your mood, and your experience with psychedelics. It will take roughly 30 minutes to complete. If you are invited to participate in the interview, we will contact you to schedule a time for a video call using Microsoft Teams. During the interview you will be asked questions about the history of your OCD symptoms and about your experience with hallucinogenic substances. The interview will take roughly 30 minutes, but it may be shorter or longer depending on how much you share.

Interviews may not proceed as planned for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: Internet, computer, or software problems; concerns about safety or confidentiality; or responses that suggest you are not a good fit for our study (e.g., do not experience OCD).

Participation is voluntary and you can withdraw from the study at any time without giving a reason and without consequence. Participants who take part in the study will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three $100 gift vouchers.

All data gathered is strictly confidential. The data are held in a secure area and accessible only to the project's researchers and research assistants. We will collect identifiable information (email and phone number) only in order to send email and SMS invites for subsequent study parts.