Embedding existential psychology within psychedelic science: reduced death anxiety as a mediator of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics.
This literature review and hypothesis paper (2019) proposes that the enduring improvements in well-being following psychedelic therapy are mediated by a reduction in death anxiety. It integrates existential psychology with psychedelic science to suggest that addressing this fundamental anxiety is central to the therapeutic process.
Abstract
Psychedelic therapies can engender enduring improvements in psychological well-being. However, relatively little is known about the psychological mechanisms through which the salutary effects of psychedelics emerge. Through integrating extant research on psychedelics with contemporary existential psychology, we present a novel hypothesis that reduced death anxiety may be a key mechanism underpinning the therapeutic effects of psychedelics. In developing this hypothesis, we also provide a complimentary review of mechanisms through which psychedelics may reduce death anxiety. We conclude that an awareness of the role of death anxiety in psychopathology has the potential to guide future research into psychedelic therapies.
Research Summary of 'Embedding existential psychology within psychedelic science: reduced death anxiety as a mediator of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics.'
Introduction
The paper opens by situating recent psychedelic research within an existential-humanistic framework, arguing that conventional psychopharmacology has paid insufficient attention to fundamental human needs and existential concerns such as meaning, isolation, freedom, and fears of death. Psychedelic substances—principally serotonergic compounds such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT and mescaline—are presented as pharmacological tools that can reliably produce enduring changes in connectedness, meaning and attitudes to death, changes that coincide with improvements in psychological well‑being. Despite accumulating evidence for long‑lasting benefits after psychedelic experiences, the psychological mechanisms that drive these benefits remain uncertain. Moreton and colleagues set out to integrate extant empirical and theoretical literature from psychedelic science and existential psychology to propose a novel hypothesis: reductions in death anxiety may be a key, potentially transdiagnostic, mediator of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics. The paper aims to (a) review evidence that psychedelics reduce death anxiety, (b) summarise research linking death anxiety to diverse psychopathology, and (c) outline plausible mechanisms—both direct and indirect—by which psychedelic experiences might mitigate death anxiety and thereby contribute to clinical improvement.
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Moreton, S. G., Szalla, L., Menzies, R. E., & Arena, A. F. (2020). Embedding existential psychology within psychedelic science: reduced death anxiety as a mediator of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics.. Psychopharmacology, 237(1), 21-32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05391-0
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