Naturalistic use of psychedelics is related to emotional reactivity and self-consciousness: the mediating role of ego-dissolution and mystical experiences

People who have used psychedelics more times over their lives report greater positive emotional reactions, less negative emotional reactivity, more reflection and internal self-awareness, and less rumination and concern about how others see them. These links are largely explained by how intense their past ego-dissolution and mystical experiences were. The findings suggest that regular naturalistic psychedelic use is associated with lasting, adaptive changes in emotional reactivity and self-consciousness, which may help explain why users often report higher well-being.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background: Psychedelics are able to acutely alter emotional reactivity and self-consciousness. However, whether the regular naturalistic use of psychedelics can be linked to more persistent trait-level changes in these domains remains an open question.\nAim: To test the hypotheses that i) using psychedelics is related to higher positive and lower negative emotional reactivity and ii) an adaptive pattern of self-consciousness, including diminished public self-consciousness and rumination, and increased reflection and self-awareness, and iii) these relations are mediated by the intensity of past ego-dissolution and mystical experiences.\nMethod: An online survey including questions about the history of psychoactive substance use; questionnaires measuring trait-levels of emotional reactivity and self-consciousness; questionnaires for retrospective assessment of ego-dissolution and mystical experiences. Data collected from 2,516 participants (1,661 psychedelics users) were analyzed using robust linear regression and mediation analysis.\nResults: A higher number of lifetime uses of psychedelics predicted greater positive and lower negative emotional reactivity; also, in the domain of self-consciousness, it predicted greater reflection and internal state awareness, and reduced rumination tendency and public self-consciousness. Finally, the intensity of past mystical and ego-dissolution experiences mediated almost all the observed relationships between the lifetime number of psychedelics uses and psychological variables. \nConclusions: Lifetime psychedelics use predicts an adaptive pattern of trait-level emotional reactivity and self-consciousness. Ego-dissolution and mystical experiences are essential in understanding the long-lasting psychological effects of psychedelics use. Our findings might potentially explain previous observations of increased well-being in psychedelics users.