ArticlePDF Available

Abstract

The heralded psychedelic renaissance is currently at a new level where psychedelics are being normalized. Medicalization and the ongoing introduction of market forces are imposing a trend in which psychedelic treatments are reduced to focus into strictly pharmacological and psychological effects on the self, rather than interactions with broader social context. Such narrowing of how psychedelic treatments are being conceived, used, and researched is a source of concern for those who understand that psychedelics’ therapeutic effects as also derived from socially and culturally meaningful elements. Alienation – the sense of isolation from others – and the mental health problems associated with it are on the rise. Consequently, there is not only a need for new therapies but also for a renewed social adhesion and a commitment to a more just and equal society. Psychedelics have a long history of bringing people together, facilitating intense shared experiences, and revitalizing cultures. This social dimension of use of psychedelics—psychedelic sociality—should be considered in the current mainstreaming, as therein lies their potential to support change in individual therapy and beyond. This multidisciplinary research topic of psychedelic sociality invited scholars to discuss these issues through empirical research, reviews, perspectives, and theoretical papers. Overall, 21 papers were accepted to this research topic, covering different sections of Frontiers (Neuropharmacology, Psychopharmacology, Ethnopharmacology, Personality and Social Psychology, and Consciousness Research). We are especially proud of the broad scope of this issue and the diversity of disciplines represented in it. We believe that a beneficial mainstreaming of psychedelics requires going beyond the boundaries of disciplinary orientation. Interdisciplinary integration is necessary for the paradigmatic shift in mental health that many are yearning for: a shift from a narrow biomedical model to an expanded biopsychosocial model that emphasizes the interplay between biological, psychological, sociopolitical and environmental factors in mental health. The centrality of the experience and set & setting in psychedelic research is an invitation to transcend some of the boundaries between the natural sciences and the humanities (see Langlitz et al. (2021). The biopsychosocial model is especially relevant to psychedelic research because to answer questions regarding how psychedelics function, we must incorporate different levels of inquiry – from receptors to persons to culture.
Editorial: Psychedelic sociality:
Pharmacological and
extrapharmacological
perspectives
Leor Roseman
1
*, Katrin H. Preller
2
, Evgenia Fotiou
3
and
Michael J. Winkelman
4
1
Centre for Psychedelic Research, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London,
United Kingdom,
2
Pharmaco-Neuroimaging and Cognitive-Emotional Processing, Department of
Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zürich,
Switzerland,
3
Independent Researcher, Cleveland, OH, United States,
4
Retired, School of Human
Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
KEYWORDS
biopsychosocial, set and setting, culture, 5-HT2A receptor, social pharmacology,
psilocybin, LSD, interdisciplinary research
Editorial on the Research Topic
Psychedelic sociality: Pharmacological and extrapharmacological
perspectives
The heralded psychedelic renaissance is currently at a new level where
psychedelics are being accepted by the scientic community and the public.
Medicalization and the ongoing introduction of market forces are imposing a
trend in which psychedelic treatments are reduced to focus into strictly
pharmacological and psychological effectsontheself,ratherthaninteractions
with broader social context. Such narrowing of how psychedelic treatments are
being conceived, used, and researched is a source of concern for those who
understand that psychedelicstherapeutic effects as also derived from socially
and culturally meaningful elements. Alienationthe sense of isolation from
othersand the mental health problems associated with it are on the rise.
Consequently, there is not only a need fornewtherapiesbutalsoforarenewed
social adhesion and a commitment to a more just and equal society. Psychedelics
have a long history of bringing people together, facilitating intense shared
experiences, and revitalizing cultures. This social dimension of use of
psychedelicspsychedelic socialityshould be considered in the current
mainstreaming, as therein lies their potential to support change in individual
therapy and beyond.
This multidisciplinary Research Topic of psychedelic sociality invited scholars to
discuss these Research Topic through empirical research, reviews, perspectives, and
theoretical papers. Overall, 21 papers were accepted to this Research Topic, covering
OPEN ACCESS
EDITED AND REVIEWED BY
Nicholas M. Barnes,
University of Birmingham,
United Kingdom
*CORRESPONDENCE
Leor Roseman,
leor.roseman13@imperial.ac.uk
SPECIALTY SECTION
This article was submitted to
Neuropharmacology,
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Pharmacology
RECEIVED 27 June 2022
ACCEPTED 29 June 2022
PUBLISHED 22 July 2022
CITATION
Roseman L, Preller KH, Fotiou E and
Winkelman MJ (2022), Editorial:
Psychedelic sociality: Pharmacological
and extrapharmacological perspectives.
Front. Pharmacol. 13:979764.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.979764
COPYRIGHT
© 2022 Roseman, Preller, Fotiou and
Winkelman. This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License
(CC BY). The use, distribution or
reproduction in other forums is
permitted, provided the original
author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are
credited and that the original
publication in this journal is cited, in
accordance with accepted academic
practice. No use, distribution or
reproduction is permitted which does
not comply with these terms.
Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org01
TYPE Editorial
PUBLISHED 22 July 2022
DOI 10.3389/fphar.2022.979764
different sections of Frontiers (Neuropharmacology,
Psychopharmacology, Ethnopharmacology, Personality and
Social Psychology, and Consciousness Research). We are
especially proud of the broad scope of this Research Topic
and the diversity of disciplines represented in it. We believe
that a benecial mainstreaming of psychedelics requires going
beyond the boundaries of disciplinary orientation.
Interdisciplinary integration is necessary for the paradigmatic
shift in mental health that many are yearning for: a shift from a
narrow biomedical model to an expanded biopsychosocial model
that emphasizes the interplay between biological, psychological,
sociopolitical and environmental factors in mental health. The
centrality of the experience and set and setting in psychedelic
research
1
is an invitation to transcend some of the boundaries
between the natural sciences and the humanities (see Langlitz
et al.). The biopsychosocial model is especially relevant to
psychedelic research because to answer questions regarding
how psychedelics work, we must incorporate different levels
of inquiryfrom receptors to persons to culture.
Psychedelic pharmacological interventions are inuenced by
contextual factors such as social relations, language, books,
theories, symbols, music, and beliefs. Notably, this is a
reciprocal relationship, and the psychedelic effects can, in
turn, change context, e.g., enhance openness, facilitate the
creation of new music, modify social relationships, change
personalities, and revitalize cultures. Psychedelic communities,
Western and indigenous, each have their own musical and
artistic expression, suggesting that the communal use of
psychedelics intensies cultural modes of communication. The
context-sensitive role of 5-HT2A receptors in sociality is also
noticeable in that they can be anxiogenic when trust is
compromised but rewarding within secure contexts, and
hence enhancing sociality by encouraging healthy contexts.
These facts amplify the relevancy of the human sciences for
psychedelic research, and vice versa, as what makes humans so
unusual are two interrelated aspects: our capacity for culture
(especially cumulative technological and social knowledge); and
our sociality, an unprecedented and unparalleled ability to live in
large groups of unrelated people. The human capacity for
sociality involved a Darwinian coevolution of culture and
genes (Richerson and Boyd, 2008); our biology evolved to
create our capacity for culture and culture shaped our
biological evolution. As psychedelics are notoriously context-
dependent, one can speculate that their effects on the 5-HT2A
receptor function could have played a crucial role in the selection
for this unique human capacity. The activation of the 5-HT2A
receptor intensies the inuence of social relations, stories,
beliefs, and symbols by incorporating them with our sensory
experience, making them more tangible, hence enhancing their
meaning and increasing our capacity for sociality. This
suggestion is also supported by a number of human fMRI
studies from various labs, showing increased functional
connectivity between sensory regions (especially visual) and
higher level regions (Roseman et al., 2014;Carhart-Harris
et al., 2016;Tagliazucchi et al., 2016;Müller et al., 2018;
Preller et al., 2018;Mason et al., 2020;Preller et al., 2020).
In this Research Topic, Arce and Winkelman theorize that
psychedelics enhanced human evolution in the cultural niche as
hominins became dependent on shared cultural models for basic
survival. The sociality-amplifying effects of psilocybin and its
ability to enhance openness and increase novel representations
and exibility in cognitive processes could have created
considerable tness differences among ancestral hominin
populations. Individual and eventually population differences
in abilities to respond to these effects would have provided
genetic variation upon which selection pressures could act in
favour of those with the capacities for sociality and cognition
stimulated by psilocybin. Their paper provides a summary of the
role of 5-HT2A activation and reviews clinical research showing
how psychedelics promote sociality through managing
psychological stress, improving interpersonal relations,
facilitating of collective relations, and enhancing group
decision making.
The inuence set and setting have on psychedelic experiences
provides some of the most convincing arguments for psychedelic
sociality. The recent book American Trip by Ido Hartogsohn
(2020), reviewed here by Lansky, presents an historical analysis
that clearly shows how different set and setting factors embodied
in research orientations led to different psychedelic experiences
and different understandings of psychedelicsaction. Some
papers in this Research Topic are also examining how social
and cultural context affect the psychedelic experience. Pontual
et al. and Pontual et al. presents results from a large online cross-
cultural study used in development of the Setting Questionnaire
for the Ayahuasca Experience (SQAE), and showed its relation to
the quality of the psychedelic experience. The SQAE has six
dimensions (Leadership, Decoration, Infrastructure, Comfort,
Instruction, and Social). High ratings on the SQAE were
associated with low ratings of challenging experiences and
high ratings of mystical experiences in three different
ayahuasca practices (Santo Daime, UDV, and neoshamanic).
A similar observation is presented here by Hartogsohn, who
researched the migration of Santo Daime ceremonies to online
zooms during the COVID-19 pandemic. While online
ceremonies created new possible global connections, the lack
of immediate and embodied social context was also associated
with reduced intensity of the experience. Murphy et al. present
similar results in a seminal controlled clinical trial comparing
psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression versus a control group
with escitalopram. They found pre-session therapeutic alliance
1 All pharmacological interventions are dependent on
extrapharmacological factors to some extent, exemplied in the
placebo response, yet this interaction seems much more
pronounced with serotonergic psychedelics.
Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org02
Roseman et al. 10.3389/fphar.2022.979764
and rapport predicted the intensity of the acute psychedelic
experience (emotional breakthrough and the mystical
experience); these in turn were associated with improvements
in depressive symptom severity 6 weeks after the experience. The
above studies show that social bonding and trust are vital
components for effective and safe psychedelic therapy.
It is important to recognize that it is not only the immediate
interpersonal context that interacts with psychedelics, but also
the cultural context. In this Research Topic, de Mori, using
ethnographic data, shows that the attribution of efcacy in
diverse psychedelic practices differs based on cultural priors,
ideologies or biases. Along similar lines, Dupuis expands on his
previous ethnographic work to show that psychedelic-induced
belief transmission is a process that oscillates between adherence
and doubt. This oscillation strongly mobilizes the reexivity and
agentivity of the recipient and can paradoxically enhance belief
transmission. Furthermore, as the phenomenological content of
the experience itself is inuenced by cultural priors, it can
strengthen the newly acquired belief through experiential
verication.When stories become visions, they also become
more convincing.
Some central qualities of psychedelic experiences exhibit
sociality. In some contexts, psychedelics acutely increase
relational feelings of connectedness with nature, other
humans, or with spirituality (Forstmann and Sagioglou,
2017;Watts et al., 2017;Yaden et al., 2019;Kettner et al.,
2021). Psychedelics can produce an animistic mindset, where
the natural world is humanized, personalized and socialized
with human traits (sentience, relationality, intentionality,
cooperation, intelligence) (Winkelman, 2013). In this
Research Topic, Michael et al. presents a
microphenomenological analysis of DMT experiences. Most
experiential reports described an encounter with sentient
beingsthat were experienced as other.The encounters
were rich in different features, such as the entities
appearances, demeanour, roles, function, and included
communication and interaction. The complex interactive
social imagery likely reects psychedelic action on the 5-
HT2A receptors; psychedelic entity experiences also reect
activation of innate cognitive modules directly related to
unique human capacities for sociality (Winkelman, 2018).
Diverse ndings indicate that psychedelics promote
prosocial effects. In this Research Topic, Holze et al. show in
a placebo-controlled trial that LSD acutely increases empathy
and plasma oxytocin levels. Weiss et al. online prospective
study found psychedelics increased social connectedness and
agreeableness. Luoma and Lear review evidence that MDMA-
assisted therapy can successfully treat Social Anxiety Disorder,
reminding us of the empathogenic effects of the serotonergic
system in general. Evens et al. found in an online retrospective
study that during the rst wave of COVID-19 (April to August
2020), the quality of the psychedelic experience became more
prosocial. Their nding reects some of the zeitgeist of the rst
wave, when liminality and global communitas were
experienced, in which people found a momentary sense of
solidarity and liberation from day-to-day social hierarchies
and tensions. Another study in this Research Topic suggests
that regular psychedelic use is associated with better coping
with COVID-19 social connements (Révész et al.). However,
causality cannot be inferred from this study as other factors
were different for psychedelic users, such as more substantial
social support during the pandemic. Newson et al. study here
with a preregistered online survey on people who attend raves
and free-partiesfound psychedelics and dancing lead to
personal transformation and that the acute experience of
awe mediated this transformation. In turn, both awe and
personal transformation increase bonding to fellow ravers
and prosocial behaviour (donation to a rave charity).
Similarly, Murphy et al. psilocybin clinical trial mentioned
above found not only that the therapeutic alliance facilitates
stronger emotional breakthroughs, but also that emotional
breakthroughs enhance the therapeutic alliance in return.
Shared intense emotional experiences can promote social
bonding, whether one is a patient or a raver.
Markopoulos et al. presents a compelling summary of
20 clinical and experimental trials since 2008 that show
psychedelicsprosocial and empathogenic effects. Drawing
from these ndings and LSD trials from the 60sthat showed
that psychedelic-assisted therapy helped children with Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD), they argue for the potential use of
psychedelics in the treatment of ASD. Yet, they note, that some
children had adverse reactions which led to increased anxiety and
aggression, and even to self-harm. Importantly, in these trials
greater improvements were observed when the therapist was
more actively involved with the children; when they were given
the possibility to experience meaningful interpersonal
psychotherapeutic interactions; and when the settings were
free of articial or experimental restrictions.Once again, we
see that the reaction to the drug is modulated by contextual
factors. Consequently, the prosocial effects cannot be attributed
to the drug alone but to drug and context interactions.
This point is illustrated in several papers in this Research
Topic. Pace and Devenot critique universal claims that
psychedelicsin their pharmacological essencenecessarily
improve society, increase environmental concern and
promote liberal politics. They present examples of right-wing
psychedelia in which conservative ideologies assimilate
psychedelic experiences of interconnection but amplify
authoritarian worldviews. They suggest that psychedelics are
politically pluripotentin that the changes they induce are
based on the political setting. Langlitz et al. also raise caution
against universal claims about psychedelicsmoral
psychopharmacology, which requires an interdisciplinary
inquiry to prevent naïve interpretations of results: While
members of the American counterculture used LSD,
mescaline, and psilocybin as psychopharmacological tools to
Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org03
Roseman et al. 10.3389/fphar.2022.979764
liberate individuals from the ills of their society, Huichol youth
ingested peyote buttons to become full members of their own
society, and Native American Church worshippers consumed
peyote to foster indigenous resistance to North American
colonialism. In the 1960s, psychedelics were taken to
experience a mystical union that users claimed fostered a
sense of universal love, but anthropologists have also
described Amazonian societies that used them in rituals to
prepare for violent intergroup conict.
Roseman and Karkabiin a sequel paper to Roseman et al.
(2021)made similar critical observations regarding politically
pluripotent dynamics while studying ayahuasca groups in which
Israeli and Palestinians drink together in rituals organized by
Israelis. While the collective experience of onenessand
interconnectedness can create strong social bonds between
Israelis and Palestinians, it does not necessarily produce more
equality and justice. The irony in harmonyis that too much
focus on harmony can bypass political tensions, and so stabilize
the hegemonic structures in which Israelis subjugate Palestinians.
When harmony is the main goal of the status quo, any mention of
injustice can be silenced to prevent disharmony. Prosocial effects
and increased group cohesion are not inherently just, and can
sometimes be in service of hierarchies, unequal social structures,
and violence. Yet, the authors also identify unique revelatory
events which momentarily rupture the harmony of the ritual by
revealing agonizing visions of Palestinian trauma which are not
aligned with the hegemonic Israeli narrative. Such events can
ignite a liberative procedure in which the subjects attempt to
change the social structure. The authors argue that such
revelatory events can ignite resistance towards the status-quo
and can activate the subject with revolutionary hope, acting
towards a more egalitarian structure.
Recognition of cultural and social inuences on
psychedelicsmechanisms of action reveals a complexity of
mechanisms that raise caution with oversimplied and hyped
claims about psychedelics. Studying psychedelics only through
the dominant paradigms in psychiatry and psychology ignores
many of their functions. While integrating psychedelics into
such paradigms is necessary for their mainstream acceptance,
this comes with a risk that psychedelics will be assimilated into
these paradigms instead of changing them, and consequently
restricting psychedelic practices and the science of psychedelics.
The simplied mainstream narratives ignore broader
knowledge and perspectives about psychedelic use and
mechanism of action. The seemingly controversial argument
that psychedelicstherapeutic efcacy is dependent on
suggestibility, social context, and cultural priors challenges
traditional psychopharmacological views. But for anyone
who seeks universal scientictruthsaboutpsychedelics,
these might be their principal mechanism of action, a non-
specicamplication of context, which is strongly related
to sociality, especially interpersonal relations and cultural
setting.
Novel theoretical orientations that incorporate
biopsychosocial notions are therefore required. Lepow et al.
presents these here in a testable hypothesis in which
psychedelics induce a critical period plasticity that remove
the brakes on adult neuroplasticity, inducing a state similar to
that of neurodevelopment.It is suggested that this enhanced
sensitivity to environmental input and increased relearning
capacity are then utilized in the therapeutic procedure to
create enduring effects.
Future studies need to expand beyond conventional clinical
research into process-oriented research, such as examining how
mediating variables produce different outcomes, and reporting
clinical case studies. The extrapharmacological complexity of
psychedelic effects means that evidence-based medicine has its
(double-)blind spots, as it provides us with controls to eliminate
the very conditions that psychedelics exploitthe interpersonal
dynamics and placebo and expectancy effects.
This can miss the underlying mechanism of
psychosociotheraputic processes engaged or released by
psychedeics. Therefore, another potential research avenue into
psychedelic sociality is cultural-controlled trials (Wallace, 1959)
which experimentally examine cultural differences in trial
outcomes. Such trials can even incorporate biological
measures such as oxytocin levels to assess how context
inuences the most basic sociopharmacological dynamics.
Other studies can investigate interpersonal dynamics as
introduced in this Research Topic in Wagner on evaluating
MDMA couples therapy.
To conduct biopsychosocial psychedelic research,
interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged. Such
collaborations are healthy for psychedelic research, but more
crucially, they might impact science at large. In the current state
of academic affairs, biologists, psychologists and social scientists
are studying the same human without clearly communicating
their ndings to each other. Psychedelic research can serve as a
glue that integrates interdisciplinary knowledge on mind, body
and culture, and so reveal what is unique about humans.
Author contributions
LR was invited by Frontiers to develop a Research Topic and
he invited MW to join the project. MW proposed the Research
Topic of Psychedelic Socialityand they together developed the
proposal. KP and EF were subsequently invited to join the
project.
Conict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
absence of any commercial or nancial relationships that could
be construed as a potential conict of interest.
Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org04
Roseman et al. 10.3389/fphar.2022.979764
Publishers note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the
authors and do not necessarily represent those of their afliated
organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors, and the
reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or
claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or
endorsed by the publisher.
References
Carhart-Harris, R., Muthukumaraswamy, S., Roseman, L., Kaelen, M., Droog, W.,
Murphy, K., et al. (2016). Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by
multimodal neuroimaging. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113, 48534858. doi:10.
1073/pnas.1518377113
Forstmann, M., and Sagioglou, C. (2017). Lifetime experience with (classic)
psychedelics predicts pro-environmental behavior through an increase in nature
relatedness. J. Psychopharmacol. 31, 975988. doi:10.1177/0269881117714049
Hartogsohn, I. (2020). American trip: set, setting, and the psychedelic experience in
the twentieth century. MIT Press.
Kettner, H., Rosas, F., Timmermann, C., Kärtner, L., Carhart-Harris, R.,
Roseman, L., et al. (2021). Psychedelic communitas: intersubjective experience
during psychedelic group sessions predicts enduring changes in psychological
wellbeing and social connectedness. Front. Pharmacol. 12, 623985. doi:10.3389/
fphar.2021.623985
Mason, N., Kuypers, K., Müller, F., Reckweg, J., Tse, D., Toennes, S., et al. (2020).
Me, myself, bye: regional alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego
dissolution with psilocybin. Neuropsychopharmacology 45, 20032011. doi:10.
1038/s41386-020-0718-8
Müller, F., Dolder, P. C., Schmidt, A., Liechti, M. E., and Borgwardt, S. (2018).
Altered network hub connectivity after acute LSD administration. NeuroImage Clin.
18, 694701. doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2018.03.005
Preller, K. H., Burt, J. B., Ji, J. L., Schleifer, C. H., Adkinson, B. D., Stämpi, P.,
et al. (2018). Changes in global and thalamic brain connectivity in LSD-induced
altered states of consciousness are attributable to the 5-HT2A receptor. Elife 7,
e35082. doi:10.7554/eLife.35082
Preller,K.H.,Duerler,P.,Burt,J.B.,Ji,J.L.,Adkinson,B.,Stämpi, P., et al.
(2020). Psilocybin induces time-dependent changes in global
functional connectivity. Biol. Psychiatry 88, 197207. doi:10.1016/j.
biopsych.2019.12.027
Richerson, P. J., and Boyd, R. (2008). Not by genes alone: how culture transformed
human evolution. University of Chicago press.
Roseman, L., Leech, R., Nutt, D. J., Feilding, A., and Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2014).
The effects of psilocybin and MDMA on between-network resting state functional
connectivity in healthy volunteers. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 8, 204. doi:10.3389/
fnhum.2014.00204
Roseman, L., Ron, Y., Saca, A., Ginsberg, N., Luan, L., Karkabi, N., et al. (2021).
Relational processes in ayahuasca groups of palestinians and israelis frontiers in
pharmacology. Front. Pharmacol. 12. doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.607529
Tagliazucchi, E., Roseman, L., Kaelen, M., Orban, C., Muthukumaraswamy, S. D.,
Murphy,K., et al. (2016). Increased global functionalconnectivity correlates with LSD-
induced ego dissolution. Curr. Biol. 26, 10431050. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.02.010
Wallace, A. F. (1959). Cultural determinants of response to hallucinatory
experince. AMA. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 1, 5869. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1959.
03590010074009
Watts, R., Day, C., Krzanowski, J., Nutt, D., and Carhart-Harris, R. (2017).
Patientsaccounts of increased connectednessand acceptanceafter psilocybin
for treatment-resistant depression. J. Humanist. Psychol. 57, 520564. doi:10.1177/
0022167817709585
Winkelman, M. (2013). Shamanism and psychedelics: a biogenetic structuralist
paradigm of ecopsychology. Eur. J. Ecopsychology 4, 90115.
Winkelman, M. J. (2018). An ontology of psychedelic entity experiences in
evolutionary psychology and neurophenomenology. J. Psychedelic Stud. 2, 523.
doi:10.1556/2054.2018.002
Yaden, D. B., Kaufman, S. B., Hyde, E., Chirico, A., Gaggioli, A., Zhang, J. W.,
et al. (2019). The development of the awe experience scale (AWE-S): a multifactorial
measure for a complex emotion. J. Posit. Psychol. 14, 474488. doi:10.1080/
17439760.2018.1484940
Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org05
Roseman et al. 10.3389/fphar.2022.979764
... More generally, there is clearly a bidirectional relationship between psychedelic use and psychosocial states. Just as psychedelics can create certain orientations and emotions, so too their impact is contingent on the psychological state of the user 33 . Indeed, so pronounced is this inter-relationship that some have argued that psychedelic consumption during the Paleolithic era may have led to biological adaptation in response to 5-HT 2 mechanisms in areas as diverse as serotonin, stress responses, and visual systems 34,35 . ...
... We outline some of the synergetic relations between psychedelics and the social cure that can lead to improved health and wellbeing in Fig. 1. The key idea is that on the one hand, different elements of the psychedelic experience can support and help to build a sense of shared social identity, such as ego dissolution 65,66 , shared experience and associated bonding 20,27,33,47,67 , sensitivity to culture and neural plasticity 25,34 , and enhanced self-disclosure. On the other hand, different aspects of the social cure provide a platform for a safe and effective psychedelic experience, which is known to be context-dependent 26pivoting around, for example, trust and belonging 27,28 , meaning and purpose 17,60 , and agency or self-efficacy 61 . ...
... Psychedelic experiences can dissolve ego-boundaries (Letheby and Gerrans 2017), sometimes inspiring an increased sense of social bonding (Kettner et al. 2021;Roseman et al. 2022) and collective identity (Newson et al. 2024), which in turn can enhance a sense of devotion to the group and its leader. The psychiatrist Daniel Freedman wrote: 'when the drugs are taken in a group setting, the breach with reality can be filled by the directive mystique and support of the group. ...
Chapter
Full-text available
This chapter explores the risks of guruism and cultic social dynamics in organisations that work with psychedelic drugs, which include therapist offices, clinics, research departments, retreat centres, training programmes, NGOs, underground ceremonies and new religious movements. It has been hypothesised, and argued by experienced practitioners, that psychedelics can increase suggestibility, amplify transference and facilitate an intense form of projective mechanisms in the recipients. They may thereby lead to ego-inflation and feelings of grandiosity and omnipotence in those giving the drugs and intensify cultic social dynamics in psychedelic communities – all of which can create conditions that make cases of harm and misconduct more likely to occur and go unreported. This chapter briefly introduces the terms ‘guruism’ and ‘cultic social dynamics’ and how these dynamics can lead to harm and abuse and then discusses how psychedelic drugs might amplify these processes, before outlining possible safeguards.
... They point out the loss of the community-building and spiritual dimensions of the psychedelic experience in such settings, where the impulses for social and ecological engagement and communal renewal inherent in the psychedelic experience cannot unfold. In the clinic, psychedelics encounter epistemological structures that steer them away from a "psychedelic sociality" (Roseman, Preller, Fotiou, & Winkelman, 2022) and toward a resilience, creativity, and flexibility technology that aligns isolated individuals with the imperatives of the prevailing neoliberal zeitgeist, i.e., individualization and responsibilization. ...
Article
Full-text available
As the changeful history of psychedelic research and therapy since the 1950s can be assumed to be well enough known to this journal's audience, it is only recalled briefly in this article. Rarely has it been addressed, though, that the discursive struggles through which this history has been spawned have antecedents in much older controversies in the 18th and 19th centuries. As knowledge of this prehistory may shed new light on the current state of affairs in psychedelic matters, this article starts with an account of the transformations that animal magnetism underwent during the so-called ‘long century of mediumship’, transformations by which it was ultimately tamed by science. Based on this historical sensitization, the text then turns to a recent strand of the scientific debate on psychedelic therapy – to seminal journal articles from the Johns Hopkins research group – and subjects these articles to a fine-grained discourse analysis. In doing so, the inner cohesion of the forces that are currently tugging at the psychedelic, mostly pushing aside its emancipatory, resistive, utopian, and ‘spiritual’ connotations, becomes more apparent.
... Additional to the investigation of specific mechanisms, research questions should be extended to contextual or extrapharmacological factors (Langlitz, 2024;Roseman et al., 2022), a development that can already be observed in the broad field of psychedelic research (Chiamulera et al., 2024). These contextual or extrapharmacological factors comprise especially variables that have been conceptualized as confounding factors in clinical trials (Muthukumaraswamy et al., 2021), such as the influence of expectancy (or placebo) or also the role of the therapeutic relationship or the person of the therapist. ...
Article
Full-text available
The renewed interest in psychedelics as treatments for mental health disorders is often referred to as the “Psychedelic Renaissance.” This article assesses whether this resurgence truly constitutes a paradigm shift in psychiatry, as some proponents claim, or if it should be viewed as an integration of existing therapeutic approaches. We explore historical contexts, noting that psychedelics were extensively researched in the mid-20th century and argue that many of the current claims about their novelty overlook prior knowledge and research from that period. While psychedelics do introduce novel aspects, such as rapid therapeutic effects and unique modes of action, we challenge the idea of a full paradigm shift, suggesting that these developments are better understood as enhancements to existing frameworks rather than a wholesale replacement. We emphasize the importance of integrating psychedelics within a broader bio-psycho-social model of psychiatry, combining pharmacological, psychological, and contextual factors. The therapeutic potential of psychedelics in psychotherapy has previously been described as working as “nonspecific amplifiers” of psychological processes, rather than introducing entirely new mechanisms. We suggest a balanced, integrative approach that incorporates psychedelics into existing mental health care models, cautioning against “psychedelic exceptionalism” and the risk of overselling their potential as a revolutionary treatment.
... Although this approach centers around the administration of a psychedelic drug, it has long been claimed that the psychological milieu, as well as the physical environment of the drug administration, referred to as the 'set' and 'setting' respectively, are important in determining the quality of the acute psychedelic experience [9][10][11]. One aspect of the 'set and setting', emphasized in modern clinical trials, are the hours of preparatory and integrative psychotherapy surrounding the drug administration, as well as the supportive, nondirective, therapy during the actual drug session [12][13][14]. Although some have suggested the superiority of specific therapeutic orientations [15], thus far, a range of therapeutic approaches have produced comparable outcomes (e.g. ...
Article
Full-text available
We examined if the therapeutic alliance between study participants and intervention facilitators in a psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) trial changed over time and whether there were relationships between alliance, acute psilocybin experiences, and depression outcomes. In a randomized, waiting list-controlled clinical trial for major depressive disorder in adults (N = 24), participants were randomized to an immediate (N = 13) or delayed (N = 11) condition with two oral doses of psilocybin (20mg/70kg and 30mg/70kg). Ratings of therapeutic alliance significantly increased from the final preparation session to one-week post-intervention (p = .03, d = .43). A stronger total alliance at the final preparation session predicted depression scores at 4 weeks (r = -.65, p = .002), 6 months (r = -.47, p = .036), and 12 months (r = -.54, p = .014) post-intervention. A stronger total alliance in the final preparation session was correlated with higher peak ratings of mystical experiences (r = .49, p = .027) and psychological insight (r = .52, p = .040), and peak ratings of mystical experience and psychological insight were correlated with depression scores at 4 weeks (r = -.45, p = .030 for mystical; r = -.75, p < .001 for insight). Stronger total alliance one week after the final psilocybin session predicted depression scores at 4 weeks (r = -.85, p < .001), 3 months (r = -.52, p = .010), 6 months (r = -.77, p < .001), and 12 months (r = -.61, p = .001) post-intervention. These findings highlight the importance of the therapeutic relationship in PAT. Future research should explore therapist and participant characteristics which maximize the therapeutic alliance and evaluate its relationship to treatment outcomes. Trial registration: Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03181529. https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03181529.
... Greater sense of connected has also been linked with empathy and prosocial behavior [21][22][23][24] . Psilocybin has been shown to induce significant alterations in social processing; moreover, the effect of psilocybin on social functioning at an individual and community level may be vital for a comprehensive understanding of its mechanism of action and therapeutic potential [25][26][27] . Thus, it is worth considering empathy and prosocial behavior as processes implicated in the therapeutic effects of psilocybin. ...
Article
Full-text available
Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic shown to have enduring antidepressant effects. Currently, the mechanism for its enduring effects is not well understood. Empathy and prosocial behavior may be important for understanding the therapeutic benefit of psilocybin. In this article we review the effect of psilocybin on empathy and prosocial behavior. Moreover, we propose that psilocybin may induce a positive feedback loop involving empathy and prosocial behavior which helps explain the observed, enduring antidepressant effects.
Article
Full-text available
Psychedelic induced mystical experiences have been largely assumed to drive the therapeutic effects of these substances, which may in part be mediated by changes in metaphysical beliefs. However, there is growing evidence that psychedelic experiences can also trigger long lasting distress and studies of persisting difficulties suggest a high prevalence of ontological challenges (related to the way people understand reality and existence). We conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 people who reported experiencing existential distress following psychedelic experiences. We explored the phenomenology of participants’ difficulties and the ways they navigated them, including what they found helpful and unhelpful in their process. Thematic analysis revealed the kinds of distress that accompanied worldview and identity shifts: persistent preoccupation with making sense of the experience and confusion about their existence and purpose. Along with cognitive difficulties stemming from the ungrounding of their prior frameworks for understanding, participants’ ontologically challenging experiences also had significant emotional, social, bodily, and other functional impact. Participants primarily alleviated their distress through ‘grounding’ practices of embodiment, and the social and cognitive normalization of their experiences. Findings are discussed in the context of the growing field of psychedelic-related difficulties and the challenges of integration.
Article
Full-text available
The renewed interest in psychedelic research provides growing evidence of potentially unique effects on various aspects of reward processing systems. Using the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, as proposed by the National Institute of Mental Health, we aim to synthesize the existing literature concerning the impact of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on the RDoC’s Positive Valence Systems (PVS) domain, and to identify potential avenues for further research. Two LSD-related terms (lysergic acid diethylamide and LSD) and 13 PVS-related terms (reward, happiness, bliss, motivation, reinforcement learning, operant, conditioning, satisfaction, decision making, habit, valence, affect, mood) were used to search electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, PsychINFO, and Web of Science for relevant articles. A manual search of the reference list resulted in nine additional articles. After screening, articles and data were evaluated and included based on their relevance to the objective of investigating the effects of LSD on the PVS. Articles and data were excluded if they did not provide information about the PVS, were observational in nature, lacked comparators or reference groups, or were duplicates. A risk of bias assessment was performed using the National Toxicology Program’s Office of Health Assessment and Translation (NTP OHAT) risk of bias (RoB) tool. Data from the included articles were collected and structured based on the RDoC bio-behavioral matrix, specifically focusing on the PVS domain and its three constituent constructs: reward responsiveness, reward learning, and reward valuation. We reviewed 28 clinical studies with 477 participants. Lysergic acid diethylamide, assessed at self-report (23 studies), molecular (5 studies), circuit (4 studies), and paradigm (3 studies) levels, exhibited dose-dependent mood improvement (20 short-term and 3 long-term studies). The subjective and neural effects of LSD were linked to the 5-HT2A receptor (molecular). Animal studies (14 studies) suggested LSD could mildly reinforce conditioned place preference without aversion and reduce responsiveness to other rewards. Findings on reward learning were inconsistent but hinted at potential associative learning enhancements. Reward valuation measures indicated potential reductions in effort expenditure for other reinforcers. Our findings are consistent with our previous work, which indicated classical psychedelics, primarily serotonin 2A receptor agonists, enhanced reward responsiveness in healthy individuals and patient populations. Lysergic acid diethylamide exhibits a unique profile in the reward learning and valuation constructs. Using the RDoC-based framework, we identified areas for future research, enhancing our understanding of the impact of LSD on reward processing. However, applying RDoC to psychedelic research faces limitations due to diverse study designs that were not initially RDoC-oriented. Limitations include subjective outcome measure selection aligned with RDoC constructs and potential bias in synthesizing varied studies. Additionally, some human studies were open-label, introducing potential bias compared to randomized, blinded studies.
Article
Full-text available
Psychedelics are used in many group contexts. However, most phenomenological research on psychedelics is focused on personal experiences. This paper presents a phenomenological investigation centered on intersubjective and intercultural relational processes, exploring how an intercultural context affects both the group and individual process. Through 31 in-depth interviews, ceremonies in which Palestinians and Israelis drink ayahuasca together have been investigated. The overarching question guiding this inquiry was how psychedelics might contribute to processes of peacebuilding, and in particular how an intercultural context, embedded in a protracted conflict, would affect the group’s psychedelic process in a relational sense. Analysis of the interviews was based on grounded theory. Three relational themes about multilocal participatory events which occurred during ayahuasca rituals have emerged from the interviews: 1) Unity-Based Connection – collective events in which a feeling of unity and ‘oneness’ is experienced, whereby participants related to each other based upon a sense of shared humanity, and other social identities seemed to dissolve (such as national and religious identities). 2) Recognition and Difference-Based Connection – events where a strong connection was made to the other culture. These events occurred through the expression of the other culture or religion through music or prayers, which resulted in feelings of awe and reverence 3) Conflict-related revelations – events where participants revisited personal or historical traumatic elements related to the conflict, usually through visions. These events were triggered by the presence of ‘the Other,’ and there was a political undertone in those personal visions. This inquiry has revealed that psychedelic ceremonies have the potential to contribute to peacebuilding. This can happen not just by ‘dissolution of identities,’ but also by providing a space in which shared spiritual experiences can emerge from intercultural and interfaith exchanges. Furthermore, in many cases, personal revelations were related to the larger political reality and the history of the conflict. Such processes can elucidate the relationship between personal psychological mental states and the larger sociopolitical context.
Article
Full-text available
Background: Recent years have seen a resurgence of research on the potential of psychedelic substances to treat addictive and mood disorders. Historically and contemporarily, psychedelic studies have emphasized the importance of contextual elements ('set and setting') in modulating acute drug effects, and ultimately, influencing long-term outcomes. Nevertheless, current small-scale clinical and laboratory studies have tended to bypass a ubiquitous contextual feature of naturalistic psychedelic use: its social dimension. This study introduces and psychometrically validates an adapted Communitas Scale, assessing acute relational experiences of perceived togetherness and shared humanity, in order to investigate psychosocial mechanisms pertinent to psychedelic ceremonies and retreats. Methods: In this observational, web-based survey study, participants (N = 886) were measured across five successive time-points: 2 weeks before, hours before, and the day after a psychedelic ceremony; as well as the day after, and 4 weeks after leaving the ceremony location. Demographics, psychological traits and state variables were assessed pre-ceremony, in addition to changes in psychological wellbeing and social connectedness from before to after the retreat, as primary outcomes. Using correlational and multiple regression (path) analyses, predictive relationships between psychosocial 'set and setting' variables, communitas, and long-term outcomes were explored. Results: The adapted Communitas Scale demonstrated substantial internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92) and construct validity in comparison with validated measures of intra-subjective (visual, mystical, challenging experiences questionnaires) and inter-subjective (perceived emotional synchrony, identity fusion) experiences. Furthermore, communitas during ceremony was significantly correlated with increases in psychological wellbeing (r = 0.22), social connectedness (r = 0.25), and other salient mental health outcomes. Path analyses revealed that the effect of ceremony-communitas on long-term outcomes was fully mediated by communitas experienced in reference to the retreat overall, and that the extent of personal sharing or ‘self-disclosure’ contributed to this process. A positive relationship between participants and facilitators, and the perceived impact of emotional support, facilitated the emergence of communitas. Conclusion: Highlighting the importance of intersubjective experience, rapport, and emotional support for long-term outcomes of psychedelic use, this first quantitative examination of psychosocial factors in guided psychedelic settings is a significant step toward evidence-based benefit-maximization guidelines for collective psychedelic use.
Article
Full-text available
There is growing interest in the therapeutic utility of psychedelic substances, like psilocybin, for disorders characterized by distortions of the self-experience, like depression. Accumulating preclinical evidence emphasizes the role of the glutamate system in the acute action of the drug on brain and behavior; however this has never been tested in humans. Following a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group design, we utilized an ultra-high field multimodal brain imaging approach and demonstrated that psilocybin (0.17 mg/kg) induced region-dependent alterations in glutamate, which predicted distortions in the subjective experience of one’s self (ego dissolution). Whereas higher levels of medial prefrontal cortical glutamate were associated with negatively experienced ego dissolution, lower levels in hippocampal glutamate were associated with positively experienced ego dissolution. Such findings provide further insights into the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of the psychedelic, as well as the baseline, state. Importantly, they may also provide a neurochemical basis for therapeutic effects as witnessed in ongoing clinical trials.
Article
Full-text available
Background: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has agonist activity at various serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine receptors. Despite the therapeutic and scientific interest in LSD, specific receptor contributions to its neurobiological effects remain unknown. Methods: We therefore conducted a double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced, cross-over studyduring which 24 healthy human participants received either (i) placebo+placebo, (ii) placebo+LSD (100 µg po), or (iii) Ketanserin, a selective 5-HT2A receptor antagonist,+LSD. We quantified resting-state functional connectivity via a data-driven global brain connectivity method and compared it to cortical gene expression maps. Results: LSD reduced associative, but concurrently increased sensory-somatomotor brain-wide and thalamic connectivity. Ketanserin fully blocked the subjective and neural LSD effects. Whole-brain spatial patterns of LSD effects matched 5-HT2A receptor cortical gene expression in humans. Conclusions: Together, these results strongly implicate the 5-HT2A receptor in LSD’s neuropharmacology. This study therefore pinpoints the critical role of 5-HT2A in LSD’s mechanism, which informs its neurobiology and guides rational development of psychedelic-based therapeutics. Funding: Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Swiss Neuromatrix Foundation, the Usona Institute, the NIH, the NIAA, the NARSAD Independent Investigator Grant, the Yale CTSA grant, and the Slovenian Research Agency. Clinical trial number: NCT02451072
Article
Full-text available
Awe is a complex emotion composed of an appraisal of vastness and a need for accommodation. The purpose of this study was to develop a robust state measure of awe, the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S), based on the extant experimental literature. In study 1, participants (N = 501) wrote about an intense moment of awe that they had experienced and then completed a survey about their experience. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 6-factor structure, including: altered time perception (F1); self-diminishment (F2); connectedness (F3); perceived vastness (F4); physical sensations (F5); need for accommodation (F6). Internal consistency was strong for each factor (α ≥ .80). Study 2 confirmed the 6-factor structure (N = 636) using fit indices (CFI = .905; RMSEA = .054). Each factor of the AWES is significantly correlated with the awe items of the modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES) and Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale (D-PES). Triggers, valence, and themes associated with awe experiences are reported.
Article
Full-text available
Background and aims Psychedelic entity experiences are examined from perspectives of evolutionary psychology and neurophenomenology. Their similarities with other entity experiences illustrate the need for a general biological explanation of entity experiences. Mechanisms are proposed to involve innate modules, operators, and intelligences that underlie ordinary cognitive inferences and provide the basis for supernatural thought. Methods Comparisons of ayahuasca and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) entity experiences with other types of entity experiences show their fundamental similarities to conceptions of spirit guides, mythological beings, divinities, extraterrestrials, angels, celestial beings, demons, gnomes, dwarfs, elves, and others. Entities exemplify the properties of anthropomorphism, exhibiting qualities of humans. Comparative methods are proposed to identify common features and differences in psychedelic and other entity experiences. Results Features of psychedelic entities reflect the functions of principal innate operators and modules (i.e., animacy detection, social role inferences, and mind reading) that have central roles in the explanation of the genesis of spirit experiences and beliefs. Humans’ innate psychology includes diverse forms of self and alien self-phenomena, providing mechanisms for explaining psychedelic entity experiences. Neurophenomenological approaches illustrate that the physiological effects of psychedelics can account for release of innate modules and mental organs. The concept of the phantasy mode of consciousness provides a mechanism through which our unconscious causal and explanatory mechanisms produce accounts of encounters with non-human beings. The extensive interaction of DMT with the receptorome explains why these experiences give such a powerful sense of ontological certainty. Conclusion Psychedelic entity experiences share central features with a robust innate human tendency to attribute agency, intentionality, causality, and personhood and to create accounts involving human-like qualities and entities.
Article
Full-text available
LSD is an ambiguous substance, said to mimic psychosis and to improve mental health in people suffering from anxiety and depression. Little is known about the neuronal correlates of altered states of consciousness induced by this substance. Limited previous studies indicated profound changes in functional connectivity of resting state networks after the administration of LSD. The current investigation attempts to replicate and extend those findings in an independent sample. In a double-blind, randomized, cross-over study, 100 μg LSD and placebo were orally administered to 20 healthy participants. Resting state brain activity was assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Within-network and between-network connectivity measures of ten established resting state networks were compared between drug conditions. Complementary analysis were conducted using resting state networks as sources in seed-to-voxel analyses. Acute LSD administration significantly decreased functional connectivity within visual, sensorimotor and auditory networks and the default mode network. While between-network connectivity was widely increased and all investigated networks were affected to some extent, seed-to-voxel analyses consistently indicated increased connectivity between networks and subcortical (thalamus, striatum) and cortical (precuneus, anterior cingulate cortex) hub structures. These latter observations are consistent with findings on the importance of hubs in psychopathological states, especially in psychosis, and could underlay therapeutic effects of hallucinogens as proposed by a recent model.
Book
How historical, social, and cultural forces shaped the psychedelic experience in midcentury America, from CIA LSD experiments the Harvard Psilocybin Project. Are psychedelics invaluable therapeutic medicines, or dangerously unpredictable drugs that precipitate psychosis? Tools for spiritual communion or cognitive enhancers that spark innovation? Activators for one's private muse or part of a political movement? In the 1950s and 1960s, researchers studied psychedelics in all these incarnations, often arriving at contradictory results. In American Trip, Ido Hartogsohn examines how the psychedelic experience in midcentury America was shaped by historical, social, and cultural forces—by set (the mindset of the user) and setting (the environments in which the experience takes place). He explores uses of psychedelics that range from CIA and military experimentation to psychedelic-inspired styles in music, fashion, design, architecture, and film. Along the way, he introduces us to a memorable cast of characters including Betty Eisner, a psychologist who drew on her own experience to argue for the therapeutic potential of LSD, and Timothy Leary, who founded the Harvard Psilocybin Project and went on to become psychedelics' most famous advocate. Hartogsohn chronicles these developments in the context of the era's cultural trends, including the cold war, the counterculture, the anti-psychiatric movement, and the rise of cybernetics. Drawing on insights from the study of science, technology, and society, he develops the idea of LSD as a suggestible technology, the properties of which are shaped by suggestion. He proposes the concept of collective set and setting, arguing that the historical and sociocultural context of midcentury America offered a particular set and setting—creating the conditions for what he calls the American trip.
Article
Background: The use of psilocybin in scientific and experimental clinical contexts has triggered renewed interest in the mechanism of action of psychedelics. However, its time-dependent systems-level neurobiology remains sparsely investigated in humans. Methods: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced, crossover study comprising 23 healthy human participants who received placebo and 0.2 mg/kg of psilocybin orally on 2 different test days. Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging at 3 time points between administration and peak effects: 20 minutes, 40 minutes, and 70 minutes after administration. Resting-state functional connectivity was quantified via a data-driven global brain connectivity method and compared with cortical gene expression maps. Results: Psilocybin reduced associative, but concurrently increased sensory, brain-wide connectivity. This pattern emerged over time from administration to peak effects. Furthermore, we showed that baseline connectivity is associated with the extent of psilocybin-induced changes in functional connectivity. Lastly, psilocybin-induced changes correlated in a time-dependent manner with spatial gene expression patterns of the 5-HT2A (5-hydroxytryptamine 2A) and 5-HT1A (5-hydroxytryptamine 1A) receptors. Conclusions: These results suggest that the integration of functional connectivity in sensory regions and the disintegration in associative regions may underlie the psychedelic state and pinpoint the critical role of the serotonin 2A and 1A receptor systems. Furthermore, baseline connectivity may represent a predictive marker of the magnitude of changes induced by psilocybin and may therefore contribute to a personalized medicine approach within the potential framework of psychedelic treatment.
Article
In a large-scale (N = 1487) general population online study, we investigated the relationship between past experience with classic psychedelic substances (e.g. LSD, psilocybin, mescaline), nature relatedness, and ecological behavior (e.g. saving water, recycling). Using structural equation modeling we found that experience with classic psychedelics uniquely predicted self-reported engagement in pro-environmental behaviors, and that this relationship was statistically explained by people’s degree of self-identification with nature. Our model controlled for experiences with other classes of psychoactive substances (cannabis, dissociatives, empathogens, popular legal drugs) as well as common personality traits that usually predict drug consumption and/or nature relatedness (openness to experience, conscientiousness, conservatism). Although correlational in nature, results suggest that lifetime experience with psychedelics in particular may indeed contribute to people’s pro-environmental behavior by changing their self-construal in terms of an incorporation of the natural world, regardless of core personality traits or general propensity to consume mind-altering substances. Thereby, the present research adds to the contemporary literature on the beneficial effects of psychedelic substance use on mental wellbeing, hinting at a novel area for future research investigating their potentially positive effects on a societal level. Limitations of the present research and future directions are discussed.