According to recent studies, self-improvement and self-awareness
enhancements serve as a conduit for post-psychedelic integration techniques
and optimal wellbeing. This is supported by the study, which is published in
the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, for both clinical and non-clinical
groups.
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin (often known as "magic
mushrooms") are psychedelic medications that have showed promise in the
treatment of mental disorders, especially when used in conjunction with
supportive psychotherapy. These medicines may also assist non-clinical
persons psychologically, according to some preliminary study. The goal of
the current study's authors was to comprehend the potential benefits of
psychedelic experiences for wellbeing.
According to research author Nicole Amada, a PhD candidate at City
University of New York, "I got interested in the impacts of psychedelic
experience on well-being early on in my PhD career." I found the new study
to be fascinating and was motivated to attempt to make sense of it
all.
"After noticing certain gaps in the research of psychedelics, I made the
decision to try to develop and test a comprehensive model of the possible
connection between psychedelic experience and wellbeing. This model can
serve as the foundation for further longitudinal investigations and should
be able to explain this association in both clinical and non-clinical
groups. I believed that this would be an excellent place to start in the
field.
The researchers examined data from a sample of 748 English-speaking people
who had previously used LSD and/or psilocybin and came from 46 different
nations for their study. A little over 26% of the sample said they had
received a mental health diagnosis in the past but weren't experiencing
symptoms right now, while 20.72 percent said they were presently dealing
with a mental health diagnosis.
The participants responded to inquiries on their methods for integrating
their psychedelic experiences. They described how much they wrote in
journals or other kinds of writing, talked to people about their
experiences, and did research on psychedelics and related subjects. They
also described how much they purposefully went back to certain parts of
their psychedelic experiences.
The participants also completed the Characteristics of Self-Actualization
Scale, an evaluation of creative and humanitarian potential based on Abraham
Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and indicated the extent to which they thought
their use of LSD and/or psilocybin had improved their personal development
and self-insight.
The researchers discovered that integration was positively correlated with
self-actualizing traits after adjusting for the length and frequency of
psychedelic usage. Therefore, individuals who reported higher levels of
integration practices were more likely to concur with the following claims:
"I accept all of my eccentricities and desires without shame or apology," "I
frequently feel gratitude for the good in my life no matter how many times I
encounter it," and "I feel as though I have some important task to fulfill
in this lifetime."
Enhancements in personal growth and self-insight acted as mediators between
integration and self-actualization. In other words, people who practiced
integration more frequently tended to report more positive effects from LSD
and/or psilocybin usage, which was linked to increased support for
self-actualizing traits.
According to Amada, the results "may point to something basic to all of our
well-being, not just persons with diagnoses; the ability to know ourselves
fully and strive for our potential."
The researchers did point out that they are unable to establish causation
or the direction of any impacts due to the cross-sectional nature of the
data. This data wasn't collected with controlled groups before and after
psychedelic experiences, according to Amada. According to the authors, "This
research should serve as a basis model that should be more thoroughly
examined over time and attempt to extend the model to account for the other
vital factors at play (demographics, set & setting, degree of
ego-dissolution, etc.)"
The study, “Self-Actualization and the Integration of Psychedelic Experience: The
Mediating Role of Perceived Benefits to Narrative Self-Functioning“, was authored by Nicole Amada and Jacob Shane.
