Of Roots and Fruits A Comparison of Psychedelic and Nonpsychedelic Mystical Experiences

This survey study (n=739) compared the psychological impact of religious, spiritual, or mystical-type experiences that were either induced by psychedelic substances or non-pharmacological means. Results indicated that psychedelic-induced experiences were significantly more mystical, had a greater positive or existential impact, in terms of decreased fear of death and increased sense of purpose, and increased spirituality more than other types of mystical experiences.

Abstract

“Introduction: Experiences of profound existential or spiritual significance can be triggered reliably through psychopharmacological means using psychedelic substances. However, little is known about the benefits of religious, spiritual, or mystical experiences (RSMEs) prompted by psychedelic substances, as compared with those that occur through other means.

Methods: In this study, 739 self-selected participants reported the psychological impact of their RSMEs and indicated whether they were induced by a psychedelic substance.

Results: Experiences induced by psychedelic substances were rated as more intensely mystical (d = .75, p < .001), resulted in a reduced fear of death (d = .21, p < .01), increased sense of purpose (d = .18, p < .05), and increased spirituality (d = .28, p < .001) as compared with nonpsychedelically triggered RSMEs. These results remained significant in an expanded model controlling for gender, education, socioeconomic status, and religious affiliation.

Discussion: These findings lend support to the growing consensus that RSMEs induced with psychedelic substances are genuinely mystical and generally positive in outcome.”

Authors: David B. Yaden, Khoa D. Le Nguyen, Margaret L. Kern, Alexander B. Belser, Johannes C. Eichstaedt, Jonathan Iwry, Mary E. Smith, Nancy A. Wintering, Ralph W. Hood & Andrew B. Newberg

Summary

In this study, 739 self-selected participants reported their religious, spiritual, or mystical experiences. Those induced by psychedelic substances were rated as more intensely mystical, decreased fear of death, and increased happiness.

—Aldous Huxley

Psychoactive substances can inspire religious, spiritual, or mystical experiences, which can be positive, spiritual, and transformative, irrespective of the particular trigger of the RSME.

William James (1902/1999) argued that the merit of a given experience should derive from its “fruits”, not its “roots”, and that empirical studies are warranted that compare spiritually significant experiences induced through psychopharmacological and nonpsychopharmacological means.

Psychoactive substances can exert profound psychological effects, which can persist for years or decades. Understanding the subjective qualities and content of such experiences, as well as the ways in which culture affects their interpretation, is a complicated yet necessary aim for further scientific inquiry.

Psychedelics are a broad class of psychoactive substances that include mushrooms, LSD, mescaline, and DMT. They have been used for thousands of years in indigenous cultures in Africa, South America, and North America for religious or spiritual purposes.

Religious or spiritual interpretations are common to psychedelic experiences. The most compelling findings from research conducted during this era of scholarship were overshadowed by the perception of ethical violations and a reactionary ban on psychedelic substances.

Contemporary studies continue to find positive outcomes stemming from psychedelic-induced experiences, such as heightened mood, altruistic social effects, and other positive behavioral changes.

Reviews of the extant literature on psychedelic research suggest that psilocybin can produce mystical experiences in a supportive therapeutic milieu in controlled research settings. The question that has arisen in extensive theoretical debate is whether experiences triggered by psychoactive substances such as psilocybin are as beneficial or meaningful as RSMEs that occur spontaneously or through other “natural” means.

Paul’s epiphany was transformative, and he turned from being a persecutor of Christians to an early church leader.

James’s argument is useful when examining RSMEs triggered by psychedelic substances. Although some scholars suggest that psychedelically induced RSMEs are essentially the same as spontaneous RSMEs, others hold that the origin of RSMEs differentiates them into distinct categories.

The positive impact of psychedelic versus nonpsychedelic RSMEs is another point of contention. This study used questionnaire data from an online survey to compare psychedelically triggered and nonpsychedelically triggered RSMEs in terms of mystical quality, positive impact, and sense of religiosity and spirituality.

Participants

Data came from 739 individuals who completed an online survey about religious and spiritual experiences. The University of Pennsylvania’s Institutional Review Board approved this study.

Participants were primarily White/Caucasian and middle class. There were an unusually high number of atheists in this sample (25%), compared with the general population (1.6%); however, those included in the current analyses scored higher on the Mysticism Scale.

Measures

Mystical experiences were measured using the mystical experience subscale of the Death Transcendence Scale. The internal consistency in the current sample was excellent ( = .90).

Psychedelic experience was categorized as either having been occasioned by a psychedelic substance or not. Participants endorsed other nonpsychedelic RSME triggers, though these data are not included in these analyses.

Six single-item questions were used to measure how RSMEs influenced participants’ lives. The overall RSME impact was .71.

Data Analysis

Participants who reported a psychedelic experience had a greater impact on their RSME than those who indicated other triggers.

Results

Of 739 participants, 347 indicated that their RSME was psychedelically induced, and 392 indicated that their RSME was nonpsychedelically induced. Psychedelic use was inversely related to education and SES.

Psychedelic drug use was associated with a higher level of mystical experience and overall RSME impact than nonpsychedelic triggered RSMEs, after controlling for gender, education, SES, and religious affiliation.

Discussion

The current study found that RSMEs induced with psychedelic substances were more mystical, had greater positive or existential impact, and increased participants’ spirituality more than RSMEs triggered through other means.

The theoretical literature on RSMEs typically casts psychedelically induced experiences as artificial. However, the data from this study cast doubt on this assumption, as participants rated psychedelic-triggered RSMEs as more intensely mystical, more positive in impact, and more related to spiritual and existential outcomes.

Psychedelic use has been associated with a variety of positive mood and behavioral outcomes, including reduced psychological distress and suicidality, reduced recidivism among substance-involved offenders, and the treatment of clinical depression.

Psychedelic-induced experiences were rated as more spiritual than nonpsychedelic experiences, which was surprising as psychedelic substances represent an obviously physical, rather than supernatural, causal trigger of the experience.

We found that unsupervised psychedelic use can result in positive subjective feelings and experiences. However, we cannot draw conclusions regarding benefits or risks associated with other outcomes.

Limitations

The present study was limited in several ways, including the fact that it was not representative of the population at large and that there was a self-selection bias in favor of those who were already familiar with RSMEs.

We measured RSMEs in people who had tried psychedelic substances, as well as in people who had not. This means that RSMEs may have been triggered by substances other than psychedelics.

There were important differences between the two comparison groups, suggesting potential confounds. Religious participants used psychedelics less often than did nonreligious participants, and scored lower on the mystical experience measure.

Implications

This study suggests that psychedelic substances are associated with RSMEs that are similar to, and may, on average, surpass, in mystical quality RSMEs induced through other means. Further study is needed to examine the impact of religious, spiritual, and secular interpretations on outcomes of interest.

Supervised psychedelic sessions could be considered as a potential form of positive intervention, given their impact on dimensions of well-being.

Conclusion

Over a century ago, William James addressed the perceived authenticity and benefit of RSMEs induced through use of psychedelic substances. Today, the results of a preset study suggest that psychedelic experiences can equal or even surpass the intensity and impact of experiences derived through nonpsychedelic means.