Rick Springfield Talks Microdosing LSD to Help Depression After Discovering Brain Damage

Lauren Novak March 10, 1:40 pm

Rick Springfield performs onstage during Keep Memory Alive Hosts Star-Studded Lineup At 26th Annual Power Of Love Gala at MGM Grand Garden Arena on February 18, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. — Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive; Mario Casilli/ABC/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection

75-year-old Rick Springfield wants to know everything that is wrong with him. He’s also interested in using drugs to improve his mental health, including microdosing LSD as a treatment for depression, something he has struggled with for many decades. The “Jessie’s Girl” singer revealed that his father died because he didn’t want to know what was wrong with him and ultimately collapsed and died from a burst ulcer. Springfield says that he is the “opposite” and recently had a Prenuvo whole-body MRI scan to get a full picture of his overall health. He was interested in seeing the results of a fall he took onstage in Las Vegas back in 2000.

Rick Springfield attends Keep Memory Alive Hosts Star-Studded Lineup At 26th Annual Power Of Love Gala at MGM Grand Garden Arena on February 18, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive

Springfield explained, “I fell 25 feet, hit my head and then wood came down and hit my head, and then my head hit the stage again. I thought I had just broken my wrist, but on the scan I found out I have some brain damage from the fall, so I’m working on trying to repair that.” These days, Springfield exercises every day, eats mainly a pescatarian diet and cut back on alcohol. He admitted that vastly reducing his alcohol intake helped his depression but he has also experimented with ketamine and LSD as treatments, mainly microdosing.

He shared, “I wanted to see if [ketamine would] open a few things in my brain. It was a creative experiment and an experiment on depression. I did it for as long as suggested, and I wasn’t a big fan. It made me feel heavy and machinelike. It didn’t change much in me — although I have been writing a lot, so you never know what kind of effect it has later on. It’s not a black-and-white kind of thing. I did acid, and that was actually a little better.”

Singer Rick Springfield performs onstage during the One Love Malibu Festival at King Gillette Ranch on December 02, 2018 in Malibu, California

Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for ABA

He continued, “I hadn’t done that since I was in my 20s, but it was a great high. I don’t mean to push drugs on anyone, but I’m not averse to anything that helps me be happier and a better person. I could use some help in that area. I’m always searching.”

Springfield is currently out on a “I Want My ’80s” Tour with fellow ’80s stars John Waite, Wang Chung, Paul Young and John Cafferty. Get tickets here.