Abstract Background Psychedelic consumption in naturalistic settings is rising, and a significant minority of users experience extended psychological difficulties. Yet, research exploring these challenges remains limited. Despite widespread endorsement of integration practices, little is known about how therapists approach integration for heterogeneous extended difficulties. Methods Nineteen...
Abstract Background As interest in psychedelics grows, concerns remain about ethical use and the documentation of adverse psychological effects. Use is increasing, yet long-term challenges - particularly among adolescents and young adults - are under-researched. This group is especially vulnerable, highlighting the need to understand how psychedelic-related challenges are experienced in...
As psychedelic use increases and integrates with mainstream medicine, understanding the prevalence and nature of postpsychedelic adverse outcomes is critical. We investigated extended difficulties after psychedelic use via the Global Psychedelic Survey (GPS) 2025, which is a multilingual online survey of people who have used psychedelics. Data on the prevalence, characteristics, and...
Psychedelic substances are increasingly recognized for their potential to catalyse transformative shifts in worldviews. Central to these transformations may be the integration of self-transcendent states. This mixed-methods study explored transformative psychedelic experiences, focussing on subsequent epistemic shifts. Ninety participants completed the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S), and the...
Background: As the use of psychedelics increases in both therapeutic and non-clinical settings, reports of extended post-experience difficulties have also emerged. While many individuals integrate their experiences effectively, others face persistent challenges. Despite growing recognition of these issues, there is limited research on best practices for mitigating and addressing prolonged...
This mixed-methods study examines how participant-identified childhood or youth trauma resurfaces during psychedelic states and how such episodes relate to post-experience trajectories. Including events participants identified as traumatic during psychedelic experiences, and subsequent psychological outcomes, both positive and negative. While psychedelics can facilitate emotional processing of...
Preliminary evidence suggests that classic psychedelics may exert lasting positive effects on individuals' mood, cognition, and personality, but little is known about how these effects may differ across the lifespan. Emerging adulthood (18-29) is a critical developmental stage in which individuals transition from dependence on community institutions toward full independence. It is a time when...
Abstract This mixed-methods study investigated the relationship between recalled childhood trauma during psychedelic experiences and subsequent extended psychological difficulties. While psychedelics can facilitate emotional processing of autobiographical material, a minority experience adverse effects or re-traumatization when trauma resurfaces. Phase 1 surveyed 608 individuals who experienced...
Abstract Background As the use of psychedelics increases in both therapeutic and non-clinical settings, reports of extended post-experience difficulties have also emerged. While many individuals integrate their experiences effectively, others face persistent challenges. Despite growing recognition of these issues, there is limited research on best practices for mitigating and addressing...
Abstract Psychedelic substances are increasingly recognized for their potential to catalyse transformative shifts in worldviews. Central to these transformations are states of awe, a self-transcendent, epistemic emotion. This mixed-methods study explored how awe during psychedelic trips relates to lasting changes in boundaries between self and world, and epistemic shifts that follow...
Objective: This article outlines recommendations from 30 psychedelic researchers on how to create a better psychedelic safety net. Methods: A survey of 30 psychedelic researchers asked them to identify key critical research gaps around psychedelic harm and safety. Results: The critical research gaps identified by the authors included defining the main types of psychedelic harm, the predictors...
Psychedelic induced mystical experiences have been largely assumed to drive the therapeutic effects of these substances, which may in part be mediated by changes in metaphysical beliefs. However, there is growing evidence that psychedelic experiences can also trigger long lasting distress. Studies of persisting difficulties suggest a high prevalence of ontological challenges (related to the way...
Classical near-death experiences (NDEs) refer to states of disconnected consciousness characterised by a range of features occurring in the context of being close to death. Various psychedelic substances, such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), consistently replicate NDE features and may be considered 'near-death-like experiences.' However, a systematic qualitative analysis comparing the...
Introduction: Virtually no studies have looked at psychopharmacological combinations as models of the near-death experience (NDE), which is inadequate given the evidently complex neurochemistry occurring near- or at death. An example of such a combination is "changa," a smoked mixture of the psychedelic N,N-DMT and monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI)-containing plants, and as such has been...
Psychedelic drugs show promising therapeutic potential; however, some users experience extended difficulties following their use. This study investigated the prevalence, severity, duration, and associated coping strategies of post-psychedelic difficulties. We conducted an online survey of 159 participants, all of whom reported experiencing difficulties lasting more than one day after...
Introduction A growing body of literature is investigating the difficulties that some individuals encounter after psychedelic experiences. Existing research has explored the nature and predictors of these difficulties; however, a research gap exists in understanding how individuals endeavour to cope with such difficulties. Methods The current study collected data from an international cohort of...
Long-term adverse experiences following psychedelic use can persist for weeks, months, or even years, and are relatively unexplored in psychedelic research. Our convergent mixed-method study gained quantitative and qualitative data from 608 participants who reported extended difficulties following psychedelic experiences. Data was gathered on the context of use, the nature and duration of the...
Introduction: Much research has focused on the modeling of the near-death experience (NDE) by classical and atypical psychedelics; however, to date, no study has reported on the relationship between the NDE and the experience induced by the highly potent, endogenous psychedelic drug 5-Methoxy-DMT (5MeO-DMT). This article presents a case study of an individual who is popularly documented to have...
Much research has focused on the modeling of the near-death experience (NDE) by classical and atypical psychedelics; however, to date, no study has reported on the relationship between the NDE and the experience induced by the highly potent, endogenous psychedelic drug 5-Methoxy-DMT (5MeO-DMT). This article presents a case study of an individual who is popularly documented to have had a...
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous serotonergic psychedelic capable of producing radical shifts in an experience that have significant implications for consciousness and its neural correlates, especially given the "disconnected consciousness" suggested by the "breakthrough" DMT state. Its increasing usage and clinical trial indicate the growing importance of a thorough elucidation of...
Introduction: N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous serotonergic psychedelic capable of producing radical shifts in conscious experience. Increasing trends in its use, as well as new trials administering DMT to patients, indicate the growing importance of a thorough elucidation of the qualitative content, over and above structure, which the drug occasions. This is particularly in light...
Introduction: N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous serotonergic psychedelic capable of producing radical shifts in conscious experience. Increasing trends in its use, as well as new trials administering DMT to patients, indicate the growing importance of a thorough elucidation of the phenomenology the drug may occasion. This is particularly in light of the hyper-real, otherworldly,...