Journal of Psychedelic Studies
April 2, 2025
Hope Kronman, Alison Locker, Abdi Assadi et al.
A person experienced persistent insomnia, anxiety, and tinnitus for months after MDMA therapy, symptoms that did not resolve with Western medical approaches. Her symptoms eventually improved when treated within a Traditional Chinese Medicine framework. The authors argue that psychedelic treatment, particularly during the integration phase, may benefit from techniques that address energies not recognized by Western medicine.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
January 15, 2025
Ido Hartogsohn, Yaron Yavelberg, Omry Ben Ezra
A pilot study with 110 participants taking psychiatric medications tested workshops that combined education about their condition and medication with guided, mindful ingestion in a supportive group setting. Survey responses from 33 participants showed significantly improved understanding of their medical conditions and prescribed drugs. Interviews revealed strong interest in mindful medication use, benefit from the communal setting, and themes of greater satisfaction and improved ability to benefit from the prescribed drug. The results suggest that non-pharmacological tools can improve outcomes of prescription drug use, supporting the need for further research.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 17, 2024
Adam W. Levin, Aryan Sarparast, Paul B Nagib et al.
Among a sample of 180 American psychiatrists (mean age 48.4, 65.5% male, 24.1% trainees), about one-third (32.8%) reported personal use of and social connection to psychedelics. Psychiatrists with such personal connection tended to be younger and have fewer years of practice. Those with personal and social connection were more likely to disagree that using illegal drugs is morally wrong, that users should go to prison, are weak-minded, have no future, are poorly educated, are dishonest, or make them angry. Personal and social proximity to psychedelics is associated with less stigma toward drug use and people who use drugs.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 9, 2024
Ana Ferreira, Sharon Martindale, David Luke
A single therapeutic dose of psilocybin mushrooms, self-administered by five Emergency Medical Service Workers (EMSWs), was linked to visible improvements in several measures of occupational burnout two weeks after the session, with gains remaining stable at two months. Participants reported strong subjective experiences—psychological insights and emotional breakthroughs—that they saw as key to the positive outcome. The naturalistic field study suggests psilocybin may offer an alternative approach to address the high rates of psychological distress among EMSWs, potentially benefiting both workers and patient care quality.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 11, 2024
Alyssa B. Oliva, Mitch Earleywine, Fiona Low et al.
In a survey of 635 adults in the United States, the importance people place on having a therapist of the same gender or same race differs by the type of therapy and by the participant's own race and gender. For both cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), racial and ethnic minority participants and female participants rated a same-gender practitioner as more important than did White or male participants. A same-gender CBT therapist was rated as more important than a same-gender PAT guide.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
April 2, 2024
Sonia M. Brodie, Chelsea Stunden, Jay A. Olson et al.
First responders such as firefighters and police officers experience high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. A survey of 102 first responders in Canada and the United States found that they reported higher distress and illicit drug use than the general population, and few who sought professional treatment felt it helped. Most respondents expressed interest in LSD- or marijuana-assisted therapy, with preferences about setting, therapist presence, and dose influencing their willingness to participate. The findings suggest that psychedelic therapy may be especially relevant for this population.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
February 29, 2024
Nicholas Spiers, Beatriz Caiuby Labate, Anna O. Ermakova et al.
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Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 16, 2022
Ignas Šatkauskas
The paper examines how the concepts of hallucination and psychedelic experience carry Western presuppositions about body and soul, nature and culture. It contrasts Viveiros de Castro's Amerindian perspectivism, which suspends assumptions of unreality, with Meillassoux's speculative materialism, where hallucination appears as an imitation of the real. This debate relates to the naturalization of spirituality. The critique extends to terms like psychedelic and entheogen. By revisiting the Matsigenka concept of kepigari and Derrida's pharmakon, the authors suggest that pharmakon offers a useful comparative tool for indigenous thought and psychedelic philosophy. They interpret psychedelics as an existential medicine with ambiguous, indeterminate possibilities.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 16, 2022
Gregory M. Nixon
A collection of essays weaves together the process metaphysics of A. N. Whitehead, the philosophy and phenomenology of psychedelic experience, and the ontological worldview of panpsychism. The book is thematically united, presenting a worldview of universal sentience that culminates in a final chapter. It offers significant depth while maintaining accessibility for such abstruse subject matter.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 24, 2019
Alan Piper
A 15th-century Timurid manuscript illustrating the Prophet Mohammed's mi'raj (ascent through the seven heavens) depicts the creature Burāq with features resembling the psychoactive mushroom Amanita muscaria (fly agaric), used by Siberian shamans for spirit journeys. The author explores how this resemblance might have arisen, given that any implication Mohammed used a drug for his spiritual ascent would be unacceptable in orthodox Islam. The text explicitly states there is no suggestion Mohammed's journey was drug-induced.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
November 22, 2018
Michael A. Winkelman
Elisa Guerra Doce's book argues that contemporary debates about psychoactive substances can be informed by the wide variety of botanical substances used across human history and prehistory. Doce notes the difficulty in determining whether substances are strictly psychedelic versus psychoactive but argues that the context leads to the conclusion that uses were entheogenic. Using ethnographic analogies from the Americas, Near and Middle East, India, China, and the Classical world, Doce reviews evidence for psychoactive plant use in the Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age of Europe.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
April 1, 2017
Ben Sessa
Alcohol use disorder has been a key target for psychedelic research since the 1950s and during the recent Psychedelic Renaissance. Most studies have used classical psychedelics as adjuncts to psychotherapy, emphasizing the psychospiritual aspect of the experience to promote abstinence. MDMA has never been explored for treating alcohol use disorder, but its unique pharmacological capacity to reduce fear and facilitate engagement in therapy around past psychological trauma could make it useful for tackling core features of the disorder. This paper describes the burden of alcohol use disorders and the history of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in addiction, provides theoretical and experimental justification for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, and introduces a forthcoming study in Bristol and London, UK, exploring MDMA's role in treating a person with this condition.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 28, 2026
Lev Korchagin, Jonathan Fridman, Mario Mikulincer et al.
Among 422 recreational psychedelic users in Israel, 92% acknowledged the importance of testing substances for harm reduction, yet only 20% reported testing at least occasionally and only 4.3% always did so. 95% expressed readiness to use testing kits if provided free at the point of use. People who measured their substance dosages and those who obtained information from scientific research or online resources were more likely to test; those relying on friends for information tested less often. Employment status and sexual orientation were also associated with testing kit use. Legalizing and providing free testing kits at places of use may increase adoption of this harm reduction practice.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 28, 2026
Rafaelle L. Lancelotta, Paul B. Nagib, Stacey B. Armstrong et al.
A methodology for designing and evaluating a music playlist for a clinical psilocybin trial was developed, combining theory, therapeutic goals, and metrics. The playlist was structured across pre-peak, peak, and post-peak phases of the psilocybin experience. Spotify API metrics (Beats Per Minute, Danceability, Energy, Valence) and a novel human-rated Transcendence measure were used to assess tracks. Most musical features followed the expected emotional arc of the psilocybin experience, but nature-based tracks were sometimes misclassified as high-energy by the Spotify API, revealing algorithmic limitations. Transcendence ratings indicated continued emotional depth during post-peak phases. This proof-of-concept model shows the value of integrating intentional design with algorithmic and experiential metrics, though Spotify metrics may lack stability and generalizability.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
April 15, 2026
Hannah Whitmore, Brian Anderson, Elena Flowers et al.
A scoping review of studies from 1990 to 2023 suggests that psychedelic-assisted therapy may lead to significant and lasting reductions in anxiety, depression, and existential distress among terminally ill patients. These improvements appear to be mediated by enhanced death acceptance. The therapy may also increase psychological flexibility and reduce demoralization, supporting better mental health outcomes. The review concludes that psychedelic-assisted therapy represents a promising approach to improving quality of life for terminally ill patients by fostering acceptance of their prognosis and mortality, but further research is needed to confirm these findings.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
September 8, 2025
Based on conversations between the author and the public across the UK, two main themes emerged: desired areas for further research and concerns about the current direction of psychedelic research. The public wants studies on psychedelics' effects on neurodivergent individuals, ageing, pain management, cognitive enhancement, psychosis, and interactions with the female menstrual cycle. Concerns include pharmaceutical company involvement, medicalisation of psychedelics, and growing psychedelic tourism. The commentary argues for ongoing dialogue between scientists and the public, critical engagement with research, and integration of diverse perspectives to foster broader understanding.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 3, 2023
S. Kangaslampi
Classic psychedelics sometimes improve well-being or mental health, and acute mystical-type experiences have been linked to these improvements. Psychological insights and emotional breakthroughs during the experience are also being studied. A comprehensive review of 44 empirical studies found positive associations between mystical-type experiences and improvements in well-being, especially in healthy people, cross-sectional studies, and for general well-being, life satisfaction, attitudes, behavior, and anxiety, but less so for depression. Psychological insights and emotional breakthroughs may be as or more closely associated with positive changes than mystical-type experiences. The evidence suggests mystical-type experiences are associated with improvements in some areas, but insights and breakthroughs may be at least as important.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
January 16, 2023
Mitch Earleywine, Philip Kamilar-Britt
Trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy that emphasize statistical significance will likely include failures to replicate, especially if sample sizes do not increase dramatically. The field and the public should expect some failed replication attempts based on sampling variability alone. Continued emphasis on statistical significance will require markedly larger samples than those used in clinical trials to date, necessitating substantially greater resources. An alternative approach focused on prediction intervals has distinct advantages, and based on prediction intervals, reasonable replications are well within reach. A lack of attention to these statistical issues could unnecessarily prompt widespread dismissal of these therapies before adequate investigation.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 24, 2019
Terence H. W. Ching
Political and academic bias, along with cultural stigma, have hindered minority participation in research on MDMA for treatment-resistant PTSD. The author, an ethnic/racial and sexual/gender minority, describes his own experience receiving MDMA legally in a therapist training trial for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, aiming to destigmatize the treatment for marginalized populations. Themes include set and setting, cultural and LGBTQIA+ pride, acceptance of intersectionality, and strength in retrospection. The letter urges researchers to emphasize intersecting identities, improve minority participation in culturally attuned ways, and increase minority stakeholdership in the field.