Reduced death anxiety and obsessive beliefs as mediators of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics on obsessive compulsive disorder symptomology
This survey (n=312) finds reduced OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) symptomatology for those who (recreationally) had a significant psychedelic experience (mystical experience; psychological insight). The study also found fewer obsessive beliefs and reduced death anxiety.
Abstract
Objective
Emerging research suggests that the use of serotonergic psychedelics can be associated with reductions in obsessions and compulsions. However, little research to date has attempted to understand why this may be the case. The present study aimed to extend existing research by examining reduced death anxiety and obsessive beliefs as potential mechanisms underpinning the relationship between acute psychedelic effects and reductions in obsessions and compulsions.
Methods
Participants (N = 312) who had reported having a significant psychedelic experience completed a retrospective survey that measured aspects of their experience as well as changes in death anxiety, obsessive beliefs, and obsessions and compulsions.
Results
Acute subjective effects (i.e., mystical experiences; psychological insight) significantly predicted self-reported reductions in (a) obsessive beliefs, (b) death anxiety, and (c) obsessions and compulsions following a psychedelic experience. Mediation analyses evidenced significant indirect effects of mystical experiences, but not psychological insights, on obsessions and compulsions through reduced death anxiety and obsessive beliefs.
Conclusion
These findings highlight the links between death anxiety, obsessive beliefs and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptomology, suggesting that reductions in obsessions and compulsions as a result of psychedelic use might, in part, be due to persisting effects of acute psychedelic experiences on these variables.
Research Summary of 'Reduced death anxiety and obsessive beliefs as mediators of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics on obsessive compulsive disorder symptomology'
Introduction
Interest in clinical applications of psychedelics has resurged over recent decades, with accumulating evidence that psychedelic experiences can produce lasting improvements in subjective well-being. However, the psychological mechanisms that might explain these longer-term benefits remain poorly understood, and much work has concentrated on clinical trials rather than naturalistic use. One putative pathway that has received relatively little empirical attention is reductions in death anxiety: previous studies have reported decreases in fear of death following psychedelic-assisted interventions for terminal illness and in healthy samples, and theoretical accounts link psychedelic-induced ‘‘ego‑death’’ or unity experiences to attenuated death fears. Moreton and colleagues set out to examine whether reductions in death anxiety could mediate the relationship between acute subjective effects of a meaningful psychedelic experience (specifically mystical-type experiences and psychological insight) and retrospective changes in subjective well-being. The study tested a series of hypotheses: that well-being would increase and death anxiety decrease from before the chosen experience to the present; that mystical and insight experiences would predict improvements in well-being and reductions in death anxiety; and that decreases in death anxiety would mediate the effects of mystical experience and psychological insight on well-being.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
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- APA Citation
Moreton, S. G., Burden-Hill, A., & Menzies, R. E. (2023). Reduced death anxiety and obsessive beliefs as mediators of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics on obsessive compulsive disorder symptomology. Clinical Psychologist, 27(1), 58-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/13284207.2022.2086793
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Letheby, C. · Neuroethics (2024)
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