Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs

Summary & key facts

Researchers used a large online survey (866 people) to see if taking psychedelics changes basic beliefs about reality, consciousness, and free will. After a psychedelic ceremony people showed a shift away from materialist or “physicalist” views and toward ideas like panpsychism and fatalism. These changes were statistically significant at 4 weeks and remained at 6 months, were stronger in people trying psychedelics for the first time, and were linked to past psychedelic use and better mental-health outcomes. The authors also saw similar patterns in data from a separate clinical trial with psilocybin. The study reports associations and suggests psychedelics may influence metaphysical beliefs,

Key facts:

• 866 respondents completed the prospective survey of metaphysical beliefs before and after attending a psychedelic ceremony.
• Analysis produced a single ‘Non-Physicalist Beliefs’ (NPB) factor with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.86).
• NPB scores shifted away from physicalism at 4 weeks compared with baseline: t(121)=3.66, p=0.001, effect size d=0.33 (95% CI [0.12, 0.39]).
• The change was sustained at 6 months: t(121)=5.07, p<0.0001, d=0.46 (95% CI [0.22, 0.50]).
• Participants who were psychedelic‑naïve showed larger changes (4 weeks d=0.53; 6 months d=0.73; t(52)=3.85, p=0.001 and t(52)=5.32, p<0.0001 respectively).
• Belief shifts were positively correlated with the amount of past psychedelic use and with improvements in mental‑health measures reported by participants.
• Path modelling in the study indicated that baseline impressionability (suggestibility) moderated the belief changes and that perceived emotional synchrony with others during the psychedelic experience helped mediate those changes.
• The authors compared these survey findings with data from an independent randomized clinical trial of psilocybin in major depression and reported similar consolidating evidence, but they note that interpretation of metaphysical items and co

Topics

Biochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques Chemical synthesis and alkaloids Psychedelics and Drug Studies

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Altered state Alternative medicine Consciousness Epistemology Extrasensory perception Fatalism Materialism Medicine Metaphysics Paranormal Parapsychology Pathology Philosophy Physicalism Psychology Social psychology

Substances

Psilocybin

Conditions & symptoms

Depression Sadness or low mood