Journal of Psychedelic Studies
February 4, 2021
R. Andrew Yockey, Keith A. King
64 citations
Abstract We sought to estimate the prevalence of lifetime psilocybin use among a national sample of US adults ages 18 and older and associated demographic/substance use correlates. Pooled data from the 2015–2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were utilized among 168,650 individuals 18 years or older. An estimated 9.68% of individuals reported lifetime use of psilocybin. Differences were...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
January 19, 2021
Michael A. Winkelman
2 citations
Crowley uses his personal engagement with Buddhism and a review and analysis of ancient texts as a basis to address evidence for entheogenic substances in Tibetan Buddhism. Crowley provides a wide-ranging analysis of an idea that has gained increasing popularity—and controversy—that ancient Buddhist practices involved the use of entheogens. Crowley provides analyses of myth and ritual practices...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
January 15, 2021
Anna Lutkajtis
32 citations
AbstractResearch suggests that the clinical and therapeutic effects of psychedelics are related to their ability to induce a mystical-type experience. One particularly interesting feature of the psychedelic mystical experience is the entity encounter - people who take psychedelics sometimes describe meetings with seemingly autonomous entities which appear to possess intelligence and agency....
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
January 15, 2021
Mark S. Ferrara
24 citations
AbstractThis paper demonstrates that cannabis can evoke “peak-experiences”—the name psychologist Abraham Maslow gave to fleeting moments of expanded perception indicative of self-transcendence—when used alongside more traditional religious practices such as meditation, fasting, contemplative prayer, and sacramental ritual. For that reason, religious seekers around the globe have deployed...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
2021
Martie S. Underwood, Stephen Bright, B. Les Lancaster
8 citations
Abstract Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid contained in the West African plant Tabernanthe iboga. Although preliminary, evidence suggests that ibogaine could be effective in the treatment of certain substance use disorders, specifically opioid use disorder. This narrative review concentrated on the pharmacological, cultural and psychological aspects of ibogaine that contribute to its reputed...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
November 12, 2020
Anne Vallely
2 citations
The promise that Psychedelic Medicine holds for debilitating, treatment-resistant, disorders rests as much upon novel explanations of illness as it does upon novel treatments. If actu-alized, Psychedelic Medicine will revolutionize heath care and theories of healing. Psychedelic medicine ’ s unintended consequences may prove to be just as far-reaching, as non-ordinary states of consciousness,...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2020
Mitch Earleywine, Joseph A. de Leo
12 citations
Abstract Despite the popular support for psychedelics as aids for depression, academics and the public frequently overestimate the efficacy of available medications and psychotherapies. Metaanalyses reveal that antidepressant medications alone help only one in four patients and rarely surpass credible placebos. Their effects, though statistically significant, might not impress depressed...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2020
Edward Jacobs
12 citations
Abstract The recent revivification of interest in the therapeutic use of psychedelics has had a particular focus on mood disorders and addiction, although there is reason to think these drugs may be effective more widely. After outlining pertinent aspects of psilocybin and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the current review summarizes the evidence indicating that there may be a role for...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2020
M. Winkelman
2 citations
These two volumes bring together two very different eras of psychedelic studies, its early florescence in the 1960s and a current wave reflecting cumulative developments fifty years later. Both are based on conferences sharing the same title given to the book, an open exploration of the potential for modern science and medicine to engage with the pharmacological abundance provided by nature and...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 25, 2020
Malin V. Uthaug, Rafael Lancelotta, Ana María Ortiz Bernal et al.
25 citations
Abstract Background Previous research suggests a therapeutic potential of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT). However, online anecdotal reports have described a phenomenon following cessation of the acute effects of 5-MeO-DMT use which has been termed reactivation (i.e., re-experiencing [“flashback”]). To date, no research has investigated whether different routes of administration...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 12, 2020
Brianna R. Altman, Maha N. Mian, Mitch Earleywine
4 citations
Abstract Objective Given the growing popularity of ayahuasca and other hallucinogens, we sought to identify related expectancies and their role in why people might use this psychoactive brew rather than classic hallucinogens like LSD or psilocybin. Method Experienced users (N = 139) completed an online survey about their use of hallucinogens (including ayahuasca), how their ayahuasca...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
February 20, 2020
Daniela M. Peluso, Emily Sinclair, Beatriz Caiuby Labate et al.
23 citations
This article reflects upon the conception and development of a set of guidelines for the awareness of sexual abuse in ayahuasca settings, an assortment of scenarios that take place in local and global settings entailing the use of a psychedelic brew known for producing visionary and purgative effects composed of Amazonian Banisteriopsis caapi (ayahuasca vine) commonly combined with the leaves...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
December 27, 2019
Monnica T. Williams, Beatriz C. Labate
76 citations
Although it is exciting to witness the culmination of decades of drug policy advocacy and clinical research, the psychedelic science movement struggles with many of the same social issues that plague healthcare in general. The healing properties of plant medicines and their derivatives were originally brought to Western consciousness by indigenous cultures from all over the world. These...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
December 27, 2019
Nathan D. Sepeda, John Clifton, Laura Y. Doyle et al.
23 citations
Background and aims 5-Methoxy- N,N -dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a potent, short-acting psychedelic that produces strong hallucinogenic effects. The association between the context (i.e., set and setting) of 5-MeO-DMT use and the acute and enduring effects of the substance is unknown. Therefore, this study examined these associations using secondary data from two cross-sectional survey...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
December 13, 2019
Evgenia Fotiou
83 citations
This paper reflects on potential contributions from anthropology to the field of “psychedelic science.” Although the discipline’s beginnings went hand in hand with colonialism, it has made significant contributions to the understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems. Furthermore, recent calls to decolonize our theoretical frameworks and methodology, notably the “ontological turn,” open up the...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 24, 2019
Alan Piper
A series of illustrations in a 15th century Timurid manuscript record the mi’raj, the ascent through the seven heavens by Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam. Several of the illustrations depict Burāq, the fabulous creature by means of which Mohammed achieves his ascent, with distinctive features of the Amanita muscaria mushroom. A. muscaria or “fly agaric” is a psychoactive mushroom used by...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 19, 2019
Logan Neitzke-Spruill
58 citations
Background and aims Set and setting function both as a concept that guides research and practice with psychedelic drugs and as a meme aimed at reducing harm among psychedelic users. Referring to non-pharmacological factors that shape drug experiences, the concept of set and setting was popularized in the West during the mid-20th century. However, little theoretical development has occurred...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 1, 2019
Sam Gandy
44 citations
We are in the midst of a psychedelic research renaissance. With research examining the efficacy of psychedelics as a treatment for a range of mental health indications still in its early stages, there is an increasing body of research to show that careful use of psychedelics can yield a variety of benefits in “healthy normals” and so lead to “the betterment of well people.” Psychedelics have...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 1, 2019
Kelley C. O’donnell, Sarah E. Mennenga, Michael P. Bogenschutz
15 citations
Background and aims Given the enormous global burden of depressive illness, there is an urgent need to develop novel and more effective treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD). Recent findings have suggested that psychedelic drugs may have a role in the treatment of depressive symptoms, and a number of groups are in the process of developing protocols to study this question...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 1, 2019
Avery Sapoznikow, Zachary Walsh, Kenneth W. Tupper et al.
8 citations
Background and aims Ayahuasca is a psychedelic decoction prepared from two (or more) plants containing monoamine oxidase inhibitors, N , N -dimethyltryptamine, and other chemicals. Ayahuasca has apparently been used for centuries in the Amazon basin of South America, and in recent years has increasingly been used internationally in diverse contexts. This study aims to elucidate differences...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 30, 2019
Tehseen Noorani
112 citations
This commentary considers efforts to turn psychedelics into medications that can be administered through healthcare systems as examples of “medicalization.” I draw on ethnographic research both inside and outside of university-based clinical trials from 2014 to date, together with analogous examples from psychiatry and drug research and development. Rather than taking a normative stance on...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 30, 2019
Monnica T. Williams, Sara Reed, Ritika Aggarwal
87 citations
Recent research suggests that psychedelic drugs can be powerful agents of change when utilized in conjunction with psychotherapy. Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy has been studied as a means of helping people overcome posttraumatic stress disorder, believed to work by reducing fear of traumatic memories and increasing feelings of trust and compassion toward others,...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 24, 2019
Terence H. W. Ching
The road to the current psychedelic renaissance in research on ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) – the active ingredient of the drug Ecstasy – for addressing treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder has been fraught with political and academic bias, as well as cultural stigma among underserved populations, all of which serve as barriers to minority inclusion and participation....
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 1, 2019
Jamilah R. George, Timothy I. Michaels, Jae Sevelius et al.
222 citations
In recent years, the study of psychedelic science has resurfaced as scientists and therapists are again exploring its potential to treat an array of psychiatric conditions, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. The scientific progress and clinical promise of this movement owes much of its success to the history of indigenous healing practices; yet the work of...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 26, 2019
R. Andrew Yockey, Keith A. King, Rebecca A. Vidourek
18 citations
Introduction Once thought a rarely used drug, LSD use is steadily increasing among US adults. A greater understanding of social factors and psychological determinants leading to lifetime LSD use can assist health educators and professionals in treating this growing problem. This study analyzed psychosocial factors related to LSD use among a national sample of adults. Methods A secondary data...