Lifetime use of psychedelics is associated with better mental health indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic
In a survey of 5,618 adults during the COVID‑19 pandemic, lifetime psychedelic use was associated with higher positive affect and personality traits favouring plasticity and resilience (increased openness and a higher beta factor), alongside decreased conscientiousness. No link was found between lifetime psychedelic use and impaired mental health, whereas some other psychoactive drugs were associated with worse indicators.
Authors
- Enzo Tagliazucchi
- Claudio Pallavicini
- Federico Cavanna
Published
Abstract
Background and aims The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences represent a major challenge to the mental health and well-being of the general population. Building on previous work on the potential long-term benefits of psychedelics, we hypothesized that lifetime use of these drugs could be linked to better mental health indicators in the context of the ongoing pandemic.
Methods
Two anonymous online surveys were conducted between April and June 2020, including questions about lifetime experience with psychedelics and other psychoactive drugs, and psychometric scales designed to measure personality traits, anxiety, negative, and positive affect, well-being, and resilience. Principal component analysis was applied to divide the sample into groups of subjects based on their drug use reports.
Results
Five thousand six hundred eighteen participants (29.15 0.12 years, 71.97% female) completed both surveys and met the inclusion criteria, with 32.43% of the sample reporting at least one use of a psychedelic drug. Preliminary analyses showed that certain psychedelics were linked to improved mental health indicators, while other psychoactive drugs exhibited the opposite behavior. Lifetime psychedelic use was linked to increased openness and decreased conscientiousness, and to higher scores of positive affect. The reported number of past psychedelic experiences predicted higher scores of the secondary personality trait beta factor, which has been interpreted as a measure of plasticity. No significant associations between lifetime use of psychedelics and indicators of impaired mental health were observed.
Conclusion
We did not find evidence of an association between lifetime use of psychedelics and poor mental health indicators. Conversely, experience with psychedelic drugs was linked to increased positive affect and to personality traits that favor resilience and stability in the light of the ongoing crisis.
Research Summary of 'Lifetime use of psychedelics is associated with better mental health indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic'
Introduction
Psychedelic compounds such as mescaline, psilocybin and N,N-dimethyltryptamine act principally as 5-HT2A receptor agonists and have long histories of ceremonial and medicinal use. Interest in their psychological effects revived after early clinical work in the mid-20th century, but research was largely curtailed following classification of many psychedelics as Schedule 1 substances amid concerns about long-term harms. Subsequent epidemiological and experimental studies have not supported a clear association between lifetime psychedelic use and increased rates of mental illness, and recent clinical research has renewed interest in their potential to produce durable psychological change and therapeutic benefit, particularly when the acute experience has mystical-type features. Cavanna and colleagues set out to examine whether lifetime psychedelic use was associated with mental health indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic, a broadly shared environmental stressor. Specifically, the investigators compared anxiety, positive and negative affect, well-being and resilience between people reporting past psychedelic use and those reporting other psychoactive drug use, and explored whether lifetime psychedelic exposure related to personality traits and higher-order personality factors that might confer resilience. The study was conducted in Argentina during the early months of the pandemic and lockdown measures, a context expected to depress population-level measures of well-being.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
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- APA Citation
Cavanna, F., Pallavicini, C., Milano, V., Cuiule, J., Di Tella, R., González, P., & Tagliazucchi, E. (2021). Lifetime use of psychedelics is associated with better mental health indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 5(2), 83-93. https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2021.00172
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