Psychedelics May Boost Certain Psychological Strengths, Study Finds
Psychedelic use is linked to several specific psychological strengths, study finds (msn.com)
8/6/2023
A new study suggests that naturalistic psychedelic use is linked to several specific psychological strengths compared to other substances. Researchers found that psychedelic experiences involving self-transcendence likely play a role.
Researchers were motivated by the resurgence of clinical interest in psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca. Despite psychedelics’ common risks, numerous trials show promise for treating depression and anxiety.
The authors aimed to see if psychedelics could benefit wellbeing beyond clinical settings. They measured an expanded range of traits that may be associated with psychedelic use among the general population.
The researchers recruited 3,157 participants through social media and emails. They found psychedelic use was associated with higher mindfulness, gratitude, awe, kindness and lower greed, hate and envy.
The adaptive traits linked to psychedelic use indicated positive effects on overall wellbeing. In contrast, patterns for cannabis and alcohol showed mixed associations.
A mediation analysis found self-transcendent psychedelic experiences fully explained the relationship with psychological strengths. The study controlled for demographics and other substance use.
While results are correlational, clinical studies suggest psychedelics can cause lasting trait changes. Intention to use for personal growth predicted stronger benefits.
Limitations include reliance on self-reported data and a non-representative sample. Future research is needed to clarify the causal mechanisms and determine which individuals may benefit most.
The authors conclude that psychedelics have potential to positively shape personality for those who use them responsibly and under the right circumstances. However, psychedelics also carry risks and are currently illegal in most areas.
Overall, the study provides preliminary evidence that naturalistic psychedelic use may be linked to increases in specific psychological strengths. But controlled experiments are still needed to determine the role of psychedelic experiences in boosting wellbeing outside of clinical settings.
Dr. Thomas Commentary:
To begin with, I do not advocate the use of mind altering drugs. There is the potential for harm. I believe every psychological illness/disease can be treated by an intervention other than drugs (whether conventional psychological or psychedelic). Mediation, reading, breathing, philosophy, and religion are methods that people have used to attain a transcendent perspective of the universe without psychedelics. Counseling and various forms of psychotherapy (CBT, ego state therapy, EMDR, ETT, etc.) have all been successfully used to develop insight. Likewise, exorcism/spiritual bondage breaking has been used successfully to treat stubborn cases of mental torment. Again, I do not advocate using psychedelics, out of an abundance of caution. Most patients will experience growth and insight that is life-transformative, but some will have serious negative experiences. Do not use them.
But, I did not follow this advice. I used weekly edible cannabis for 3 years in a vision quest setting, often with a group of fellow seekers. I used psychedelics about 10 times, usually alone. On each of my psychedelic trips, I realized an important lesson or perspective about life. I used LSD about 5 times and Psilocybin mushrooms another 5 times over a two-year period in the 1980s. A friend in San Francisco purchased some LSD on blotter paper for me. And later, I went mushroom hunting with a couple of other naturopathic students on a drizzly day in a cow pasture near Tillamook, Oregon. We all wore full body raincoats to crawl around on the ground. Liberty Caps are very small, about an inch tall, brown, with a small cap on top. After a half hour, I found the first one and then everyone found some.
Trip #1: My first LSD trip was with my second wife. She didn’t know I had taken it early on a Sunday morning. When it came on, I was looking toward the south, in bed, and looking out of the window toward the sun. Suddenly, the window shattered into a million fragments of rainbow crystals and bright white light. It was the most unusual experience. I couldn’t stop laughing to tell her what was happening.
* I think my subjective experience of the window shattering was a neurological response to my serotonin-dopamine receptors being suddenly de-inhibited or overstimulated. While we are alive and perceiving the world through our senses, I think the spirit observes the brain and interprets the external world based upon those neural polarizations. The sense receptors (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) transmit signals through the afferent neurons and stimulate the brain’s neural networks. The result is a mapping of the external world onto the cortex. I believe the spirit perceives the state of polarization of the cortex and assembles a conscious perception of the external world from that a sensory map.
I believe the spirit (the point of consciousness that is “who I am” created by God) is what normally perceives and experiences reality. I believe the spirit has the same consciousness that God has. God has given us a small piece of His mind-spirit as our point of perspective on reality. All spirits, all perspectives, all Conscious Points and all consciousness are from Him. But He has created the universe to appear to have separation, other, and identities, so that He could experience love by the free will choice of man to love Him (as expressed by following His law).
I note that people who have Near-Death Experiences report that they perceive physical reality in the same way as when embodied, but clearer (and some report a 360 degree experience of all of reality from their viewpoint). The NDE is a subjective experience that gives credence to the common experience/belief that there is an objective reality outside of the cranial vault. When in the normal, alive/embodied state, we filter reality through the senses before consciousness perceives it. Thus, the same spirit which sees physical reality directly when outside the body is perceiving reality through the intermediate of the sensory apparatus when the spirit is in the body. Therefore, the psychedelic experience produces altered state experiences because these drugs stimulate and inhibit neurons that change the normal processing of sensory, memory, and imagined reality, which produces a distorted/altered perception of the physical universe. This reorganization of the world that we perceive can be transformative. If we focus on solving a particular problem, or understanding a concept, the psychedelic state can reorganize those thoughts in a new way that may be more functional than the original understanding/organization. Having an intention/problem to solve, and a pleasant, supportive environment and an experience guide may reduce the likelihood of a bad trip.
Trip #1 – part 2: Later, I as I stepped into the bath, I saw in my inner vision being in a living room with a stairway leading upstairs. A beautiful bird of paradise flower was sitting on the stairs. The flower fascinated me and loved it. I went over to it and looked into it deeply and was in awe/transfixed/in bliss by its beauty and presence. I wanted to stay with it and be in its presence and beauty forever. But as I gazed into it, its beauty faded a little. I increased my intensity of attention on it and it returned to almost its full glory, and then faded again, but even more than before. So, I renewed and focused my attention even more. It returned a little, and then faded to a darker color and texture. I repeated this process several times, each time the flower faded, became more flaccid, lost its support, and eventually collapsed, rotted, and dripped down the stairs.
* My interpretation: Life does not allow for a static experience of mediation on a single vignette of life. The best we can do is appreciate the moment, focus more deeply on it, extract all the beauty and life from each possible moment, and then move on to appreciating the beauty of the next moment.
Second Trip: Middle of the night. My second wife had left me, and I was alone. I sat on my office floor rug and meditated on my inner vision until the LSD effect came on in about an hour. I saw a rainbow, like an oil slick, spread out and diffuse, covering my field of inner vision. It was beautiful; it excited me. I saw in it the possibility of total happiness, complete satisfaction of desires, and the answer to all my questions. I focused on the center of the rainbow. I felt that if only I could follow it to its end, I could satisfy my longing for peace, answers, and pleasure. I tried to follow it to its source. As I did, the colors swirled faster, and I followed it deeper, which made the changes come faster as it receded. The speed and attention became exhausting, and I was overwhelmed and tense. I lost contact with my focus as it sped off in a blur of color and movement. I recovered, and the acid rainbow reappeared, slowly moving, beautiful, with a center that beckoned me with its promise of answers, peace, and pleasure. I followed it again, only to be exhausted and unfulfilled as it receded past my grasp of attention and focus. The cycle repeated for 6 or more hours. It reduced me to tears and psychic pain at the futility of reaching the end of the rainbow.
* My interpretation: Life is composed of many beautiful colors and textures. Life has a reason and purpose, it contains spirits who experience and are experienced. Time follows a lawful progression. Life is composed of a mixture of textures, colors, sounds, and experience, and the center of it all is God. But God has created the universe to be the experience of many points. The point of the universe/creation is not to reunite with Him, but to experience our relationship with the many points. The drive to find the center, the meaning inside each moment,. Each of the points creating the universe is beautiful because of their contrast with other points and the assemblies of elements. Relax and appreciate the totality of the moment. Examine the details of the points composing the whole. Take in all of life, appreciate the whole, examine and appreciate the beauty of all the components and their contrast. Life is satisfying when properly appreciating the “what is” of life. Appreciate both the small and large scale perspectives of life, appreciate the details of their construction, appreciate the relationship of the parts, and appreciate the transformation of the flow of life and relationships between self, other, and God.
As a counter to the optimistic promise of psychedelics, the following article suggests caution:
The Dangers of Pursuing Neuroplasticity with Psychedelics
Maybe Psychedelics Aren’t the Best Idea for Your Brain (msn.com)
While neuroplasticity offers benefits in later life, psychedelic drugs may not be the best way to foster it.
Neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to change and adapt – typically declines with age, which can lead to memory loss and cognitive impairment. But some seniors pursue activities like reading, puzzles and music to stimulate neuroplasticity in hopes of staving off dementia.
Psychedelic drugs like LSD and psilocybin can also put the brain in a neuroplastic state. But there are risks to consider. Neuroplasticity tends to be most advantageous during childhood when the brain is impressionable. Yet it also makes children vulnerable to trauma that can have lasting effects.
For adults, especially those with trauma, psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity could expose painful memories without providing the skills to process them. And while psychedelic therapy shows promise, recreational use may cause more harm than good.
Dr. Richard Friedman notes that while heightened neuroplasticity grants opportunities in youth, it opens the door to damage when triggered in adulthood. Neuroplasticity enables you to learn new skills as you age but don’t overlook what you already know.
Psychedelics can offer therapeutic benefits for some with proper guidance. But they may not provide the “new lease on life” promised in testimonials. Proceed cautiously as legalization expands, and seek a licensed guide if possible.
Overall, moderate your neuroplasticity expectations with psychedelics. Neuroplasticity in later life is impressive, but learning new skills gets exponentially harder as we age. Cherish the knowledge you already possess. Neuroplasticity alone won’t transform your brain – the right habits and lifestyle will.
Dr. Thomas Commentary:
The concept of neuroplasticity and psychedelic therapy do not match. The brain can remodel itself, and psychedelic therapy can open up new insights. If we change our perception/ideas/concept/paradigm about life, then we are going to remodel our worldview around that new insight. The remodel will probably be faster when younger, since the brain probably has more neurons and more capability to remodel, but the older brain has the capability of learning too. To use psychedelic therapy to learn new skills seems like a mismatch. The new skill we are trying to develop with psychedelic therapy is a new perspective, and I believe the psychedelic experience can move minds whether young or old – possibly not as much or as quickly when older, but it can shift the perspective enough that we pursue life differently. If there is a guide, a moral mentor, a person with a Godly worldview, then it will be possible to shape that new insight in a Godly direction, instead of a Godless direction. I think that is probably the biggest threat of psychedelic therapy, the possibility of seeing/feeling/knowing the Oneness of self and all creation, and then using that insight to pursue a path that elevates that experience out of its proper proportion. Yes, the universe is all One – there is a unity of all men, the earth, the sky, and all of time, but the purpose of God was to create separation, the ability to recognize self from other. Love is only possible to experience when other exists, and the creatures have the ability to choose to love or not. Resist the temptation to dwell in the literal Oneness of God, the creation, and all. Instead, seek to bring a unity of the faith in Christ – the oneness of all in choosing the will and way of God in how we act/the choices we make. The Bible is the center, the standard, the revelation of God’s will and way – study it, read it. If you need to do psychedelic therapy to clear your mind, do it cautiously, be under the tutelage of a person who can guide you in the direction of Biblical Godliness when faced with a paradigm opportunity of seeing that the universe truly is One.