Enhanced meaning in life following psychedelic use: converging evidence from controlled and naturalistic studies
Across a randomised clinical trial, a controlled psilocybin study and a naturalistic retreat cohort, psychedelic use produced robust, long‑lasting increases in the presence of meaning in life with only small reductions in the search for meaning. These increases correlated moderately with improved mental wellbeing and reduced depression and were associated with mystical, ego‑dissolution and emotional‑breakthrough experiences, with context‑dependent effect sizes.
Authors
- Robin Carhart-Harris
- David Nutt
- Leor Roseman
Published
Abstract
Introduction
Psychedelics, such as psilocybin, are increasingly recognized for their propensity to elicit powerful subjective experiences that carry personal meaning. While research has demonstrated the capacity for these compounds to promote psychological wellbeing, it has yet to be shown to what extent they modulate "meaning in life", a specific contributor to mental and physical health.
Methods
Using the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), we examined changes in meaning in life occurring across three different contexts of psychedelic use, including a randomized clinical trial of psilocybin for depression, controlled administration of psilocybin in a single-arm healthy volunteer study, and a naturalistic observational study following participants in psychedelic retreats. Meaning in life changes were analyzed with linear mixed models, and relationships to other predictors and outcomes were examined via Pearson correlations.
Results
Across all contexts, the sub-factor “presence of meaning” was strongly increased after a psychedelic experience, while the sub-factor “search for meaning” was only weakly reduced. Enhancements of meaning in life were also moderately correlated with changes in measures of mental health, including mental wellbeing and depression severity. In line with previous research, we found that mystical, ego dissolution and emotional breakthrough experiences were correlated with an increase of meaning in life, with context-dependent differences in the strength of the association.
Discussion
The convergence of evidence from multiple studies shows that psychedelic use has a robust and long-lasting positive effect on meaning in life. We explore potential mechanisms of psychedelic-induced meaning enhancement and highlight the possible influences of psychosocial context on outcomes.
Research Summary of 'Enhanced meaning in life following psychedelic use: converging evidence from controlled and naturalistic studies'
Introduction
Classical psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD produce profound subjective experiences that have been associated with long-term improvements in mental wellbeing and therapeutic efficacy in mood and addictive disorders. The intensity of acute subjective effects — particularly mystical-type experiences characterised by feelings of blissful unity — correlates with beneficial outcomes and is frequently rated among the most personally significant events in a person's life. These observations have led researchers to propose that psychedelics may enhance the perception of meaning in life, a construct closely linked to eudaimonia and long-term mental and physical health, and that this enhancement may represent a core component of their therapeutic mechanism. Despite the salience of meaning-making in philosophical and clinical accounts of psychedelic experiences, the impact of psychedelics on meaning in life had not been systematically assessed at the time of this investigation. Drawing on Viktor Frankl's influential three-dimensional model — encompassing presence of meaning, search for meaning, and coherence — the researchers conducted a multi-study analysis to determine whether psychedelics reliably enhance meaning in life across diverse settings and populations, and whether such changes are associated with improvements in wellbeing and depression.
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Roseby, W., Kettner, H., Roseman, L., Spriggs, M. J., Lyons, T., Peill, J., Giribaldi, B., Erritzoe, D., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2025). Enhanced meaning in life following psychedelic use: converging evidence from controlled and naturalistic studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1580663
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