Hi Tim, Michael, and Matthew. Thank you for doing this.
My question: Has there been any research that looks at how a person’s pre-existing belief structures might affect a psychedelic experience? I’ve heard some anecdotal evidence that an extremely rigid set of beliefs (religious fundamentalism, in particular) can be a substrate for a very bad trip, because of a refusal to accept a frightening encounter during the experience as anything but the presence of real evil. Of course a “bad trip” can be extremely useful regardless, and these experiences (“good” or “bad”) often correlate with an increase in openness afterwards, which seems to me an anecdote to rigid thought patterns and beliefs (I often find that the people in my life who might most benefit from a psychedelic experience are the ones who would either never undergo one or would have the worst time on one...).
I’d be really interested to learn whether or not this has been studied scientifically, or if there might be plans related to the question(s).
The Vollenweider lab has found that the personality trait of absorption in lab research was associated with greater pleasant and mystical experiences, and emotional excitability was associated with unpleasant and anxious reactions.
Not that I know of, but it’s a rich and fascinating research questions. This is exactly the sort of work that needs philanthropic support. Who else is going to support it?!
Hi Tim, Michael, and Matthew. Thank you for doing this.
My question: Has there been any research that looks at how a person’s pre-existing belief structures might affect a psychedelic experience? I’ve heard some anecdotal evidence that an extremely rigid set of beliefs (religious fundamentalism, in particular) can be a substrate for a very bad trip, because of a refusal to accept a frightening encounter during the experience as anything but the presence of real evil. Of course a “bad trip” can be extremely useful regardless, and these experiences (“good” or “bad”) often correlate with an increase in openness afterwards, which seems to me an anecdote to rigid thought patterns and beliefs (I often find that the people in my life who might most benefit from a psychedelic experience are the ones who would either never undergo one or would have the worst time on one...).
I’d be really interested to learn whether or not this has been studied scientifically, or if there might be plans related to the question(s).
Yes there is some research on this. We found in survey research the personality trait of neuroticism is associated with more difficult psychedelic experiences: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5540159/
The Vollenweider lab has found that the personality trait of absorption in lab research was associated with greater pleasant and mystical experiences, and emotional excitability was associated with unpleasant and anxious reactions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3281871/
Not that I know of, but it’s a rich and fascinating research questions. This is exactly the sort of work that needs philanthropic support. Who else is going to support it?!