Psychedelics are a sort of hallucinogenic drug that produce out-of-the-ordinary experiences of awareness.
Psychedelics may decrease the worry of passing away and death, equivalent to sensations reported by individuals who have had near-death experiences.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine compared psychedelic experiences with non-drug-related near-death experiences in a survey research study of more than 3,000 people and found striking parallels in peoples views about death. Both sets of study participants claimed to have less fear of dying and death as a result of the experience. Furthermore, they reported that the encounter had a lasting favorable effect by supplying them with a sense of purpose, spiritual significance, and psychological insight.
The research study was just recently released in the journal PLOS ONE.
The findings remain in line with a number of previous clinical research studies that have shown long lasting improvements in stress and anxiety and depression among cancer patients with a lethal diagnosis produced by a single dosage of psychedelic psilocybin. The authors of this research study performed the largest of these trials (Griffiths et al., 2016) at Johns Hopkins Medicine. That research study, a randomized trial involving 51 cancer clients with clinically significant anxiety or depressive symptoms, showed that getting helpful psychotherapy together with a managed, high dosage of psilocybin considerably increased scores of approval of death and decreased stress and anxiety about death.
Groups of participants were split into groups: 933 individuals experienced non-drug-related near-death experiences, while the remainder had actually psychedelic experiences set off by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (904 ), psilocybin (766 ), ayahuasca (282 ), or N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) (307 ). The psychedelic group had a higher portion of males (78% vs. 32%) and more youthful typical age (32 vs. 55) at the time of the experience than the non-drug group.
Similarities in between the groups include:
When thinking about modifications in their views from before to after the experience, about 90% of participants in both groups reported a decline in worry of death.
Most individuals in both groups (non-drug group, 85%; psychedelics group, 75%) ranked the experience to be among the top five most personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their life.
Participants in both groups reported moderate to strong persisting favorable modifications in personal wellness and life function and significance.
Differences between the groups include:
The non-drug group was more likely to report that their life was in risk (47% versus the psychedelics group, 3%), being medically unconscious (36% versus the psychedelics group, 10%), or scientifically dead (21% versus the psychedelics group, less than 1%).
The non-drug group was more likely to report that their experience was extremely quick, long lasting 5 minutes or less (40% versus the psychedelics group, 7%).
The scientists state that future research studies are needed to better comprehend the prospective scientific use of psychedelics in ameliorating suffering related to fear of death.
Recommendation: “Comparison of near-death and psychedelic or other non-ordinary experiences in changing mindsets about death and passing away” by Mary M. Sweeney, Sandeep Nayak, Ethan S. Hurwitz, Lisa N. Mitchell, T. Cody Swift and Roland R. Griffiths, 24 August 2022, PLOS ONE.DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0271926.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine compared psychedelic experiences with non-drug-related near-death experiences in a survey study of more than 3,000 individuals and discovered striking parallels in individualss views about death. Both sets of survey respondents claimed to have less fear of dying and death as an outcome of the experience. Groups of individuals were split into groups: 933 people experienced non-drug-related near-death experiences, while the remainder had actually psychedelic experiences set off by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (904 ), psilocybin (766 ), ayahuasca (282 ), or N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) (307 ). The psychedelic group had a higher percentage of males (78% vs. 32%) and younger average age (32 vs. 55) at the time of the experience than the non-drug group.