Abstract

Can the use of psychedelic drugs induce lasting changes in metaphysical beliefs? While it is popularly believed that they can, this question has never been formally tested. Here we exploited a large sample derived from prospective online surveying to determine whether and how beliefs concerning the nature of reality, consciousness, and free-will, change after psychedelic use. Results revealed significant shifts away from ‘physicalist’ or ‘materialist’ views, and towards panpsychism and fatalism, post use. With the exception of fatalism, these changes endured for at least 6 months, and were positively correlated with the extent of past psychedelic-use and improved mental-health outcomes. Path modelling suggested that the belief-shifts were moderated by impressionability at baseline and mediated by perceived emotional synchrony with others during the psychedelic experience. The observed belief-shifts post-psychedelic-use were consolidated by data from an independent controlled clinical trial. Together, these findings imply that psychedelic-use may causally influence metaphysical beliefs—shifting them away from ‘hard materialism’. We discuss whether these apparent effects are contextually independent.

Details

Title
Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs
Author
Timmermann, Christopher 1 ; Kettner Hannes 1 ; Letheby, Chris 2 ; Roseman Leor 1 ; Rosas, Fernando E 3 ; Carhart-Harris, Robin L 4 

 Imperial College London, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Centre for Psychedelic Research, London, UK (GRID:grid.7445.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2113 8111) 
 The University of Western Australia, Department of Philosophy, Perth, Australia (GRID:grid.1012.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7910); The University of Adelaide, Department of Philosophy, Adelaide, Australia (GRID:grid.1010.0) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7304) 
 Imperial College London, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Centre for Psychedelic Research, London, UK (GRID:grid.7445.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2113 8111); Imperial College London, Data Science Institute, London, UK (GRID:grid.7445.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2113 8111); Imperial College London, Centre for Complexity Science, London, UK (GRID:grid.7445.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2113 8111) 
 Imperial College London, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Centre for Psychedelic Research, London, UK (GRID:grid.7445.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2113 8111); University of California, Psychedelics Division, Neuroscape, Department of Neurology, San Francisco, USA (GRID:grid.266102.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 2297 6811) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2601154060
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.