Recreational psychedelic use can either improve or harm mental health depending on how and why they are used. A survey of 511 psychedelic users found that frequent use and using the substances to cope with negative emotions predicted worse mental health. In contrast, using psychedelics in a group setting, with intentions of self-expansion, and engaging in post-use integration predicted better mental health. The findings underscore the importance of set and setting—the user's mindset and environment—in determining outcomes, suggesting that recreational use is not inherently beneficial or harmful but depends on contextual factors.
This paper compares two ways of classifying psychological conditions: the traditional medical model and a developmental approach that considers growth and wellbeing. The authors argue that a developmental model is better at telling apart experiences that look similar on the surface. As an example, they contrast spiritual emergencies—crises that can accompany spiritual growth—with psychotic disorders, which also involve unusual experiences but stem from different origins. The review explains that psychotic disorders develop gradually rather than appearing suddenly, and it discusses spirituality's role in mental health. The paper concludes that a holistic, developmental understanding helps clinicians distinguish between psychotic symptoms that indicate mental illness and spiritual emergencies that may be part of healthy development.
Among 684 international online participants, classic psychedelics were the most common substances used for spiritual or entheogenic purposes. Entheogenic classic psychedelic users scored higher on measures of spiritual seeking, self-transcendence, psychological well-being, and psychospiritual development compared to both non-entheogenic users and non-users. The findings suggest entheogenic spirituality can be understood as a practice of spiritual seeking or implicit mysticism—a quest for self-transcendence and personal growth.
Classic psychedelics may produce lasting positive effects on mood, cognition, and personality, but how these effects vary by age is unclear. Emerging adulthood (ages 18-29) is a critical developmental period marked by transition to independence and common psychedelic experimentation. This integrative review proposes a framework for how psychedelic use could positively influence development during this stage, including changes in personality trait openness, belief systems, self-insight, and social concern. The authors outline pathways for orthogenetic, veridical-epistemic, eudaimonic, relational, and ethical developmental trajectories. They also identify future research directions and key challenges for studying psychedelics' developmental impact in emerging adulthood.