THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING AND THE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE PRODUCED BY THE USE OF PSYCHEDELICS
Tetiana Kudrina, Kozlovska Anna
PSYCHOLOGICAL JOURNAL July 31, 2023 DOI: 10.31108/1.2023.9.7.5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Respondents with experience using psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD, ketamine, MDMA, etc.), mostly located in Ukraine (84%), with 16% in other countries including Germany, Israel, Bulgaria, the USA, England, Switzerland, Spain, and the Czech Republic |
| Topics | Mystical experience |
| Key findings | The authors report that subjective awareness of psychedelics was not directly related to the mystical experience arising from psychedelic use, which they argue indicates the mystical experience is a real phenomenon rather than "self-suggestion." Mystical experience was related to subjective well-being, particularly happiness, including feelings of unity, euphoria, and timelessness or boundary-breaking. |
Abstract
Respondents with experience in the use of psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD, ketamine, MDMA, etc.) participated in the study. Based on the subjective assessment of the level of awareness in the topic of psychedelics, it was found that 49% of respondents have a high level, 47% have an average level, and 4% have a low level of awareness in the topic. Most of the study participants were in Ukraine (84%); outside Ukraine, in particular in such countries as Germany, Israel, Bulgaria, the USA, England, Switzerland, Spain and the Czech Republic were 16% of participants. With the help of correlation analysis and the analysis of the significance of the differences between the average values of the studied indicators, the nature of the connection between the psychological well-being of the individual and the mystical experience produced by psychedelics was revealed. It has been established that the subjective awareness of the subject of psychedelics is not directly related to the actual mystical experience that arises as a result of the use of psychedelics, therefore the mystical experience is not a part of "self-suggestion", it is a real phenomenon. The mystical experience produced by psychedelics has been shown to be related to the subjective well-being of the individual, especially to happiness as its structural element, particularly in terms of a sense of unity, euphoria, and a sense of timelessness or boundary-breaking.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Of Roots and Fruits: A Comparison of Psychedelic and Nonpsychedelic Mystical Experiences Self-selected participants who reported a religious, spiritual, or mystical experience | 2016 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 739 |
| Illicit Use of LSD or Psilocybin, but not MDMA or Nonpsychedelic Drugs, is Associated with Mystical Experiences in a Dose-Dependent Manner Adults recruited from the MAPS website and newsletter, most reporting use of various... | 2012 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 337 |
| Peak Experiences: Some Empirical Tests Random sample of adults in the San Francisco Bay Area | 1978 | Cross-sectional survey | |
| Peak Experience Tendencies | 1982 | Cross-sectional survey | |
| Rhythmic Chanting and Mystical States across Traditions. Regular chanters across 33 countries | 2021 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 464 |
Citations in the library
Cites 22
- Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness Journal of Psychopharmacology September 28, 2011
- Quality of Acute Psychedelic Experience Predicts Therapeutic Efficacy of Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Frontiers in Pharmacology January 17, 2018
- The Subjective Effects of Psychedelics Are Necessary for Their Enduring Therapeutic Effects. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science December 10, 2020
- Emotional breakthrough and psychedelics: Validation of the Emotional Breakthrough Inventory. Journal of Psychopharmacology July 11, 2019
- Factor Analysis of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire: A Study of Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 2012
and 17 more in the library