Making sense of a transformative, mystical psychedelic experience: Will people frame it as spiritual, supernatural, psychological, physical, or a sign of mental illness?

Perceptions of psychedelic use by adults in the United States: Perceived psychospiritual benefits and risks, including spiritual struggles.

“…As expected, perceptions of risks and benefits were closely linked to general attitudes about psychedelic use, interest in future use, and attitudes about legalization. They were also closely connected to the idea that psychedelics could be sources of positive or negative spiritual or supernatural messages—a topic that we focused on in the initial article based on this data set (Exline, Schutt, et al, 2023) and in a follow-up article on how people tend to interpret results of mystical psychedelic experiences (Exline, Wilt, et al, 2023).…”

“…Many people describe psychedelic experiences as sources of profound spiritual meaning (Yaden et al, 2017) that can bring benefits such as insight, self-acceptance, well-being and peace, greater appreciation of nature, and deepened spirituality (Carhart-Harris & Nutt, 2010). Some see psychedelics as a doorway to higher consciousness, other domains of reality, or a “true self” that exists beyond the material plane (Exline, Schutt, et al, 2023; Exline, Wilt, et al, 2023). Other studies show that psychedelic users often report increases in paranormal or spiritual beliefs (Nayak et al, 2023), dualism (belief in both physical and nonphysical realities; Nayak et al, 2023; Timmermann et al, 2021), and panpsychism (belief that consciousness, mind, or soul is a fundamental quality of all things, animate and inanimate; Nayak et al, 2023; Timmermann et al, 2021).…”

“…In addition to these mystical-type experiences, some people see psychedelics as doorways to messages from supernatural entities, believing that God, spirits, or the devil can speak to people through psychedelics (Exline, Schutt, et al, 2023; Exline, Wilt, et al, 2023). First-person psychedelic experiences sometimes echo these themes as well: Experiences involving DMT use sometimes involve perceived encounters with supernatural agents or entities, which might include spirits or divine or angelic beings (Davis et al, 2020).…”

“…Our prior project (Exline, Schutt, et al, 2023) showed that certain people were more likely to see psychedelics having the potential for these positive messages: younger people who identified as spiritual, with strong supernatural beliefs and more prior psychedelic use, especially positive experiences and those seen as spiritual or supernatural. A straightforward prediction, then, was that these same variables would relate to more perceived spiritual benefits from psychedelics (see also Exline, Wilt, et al, 2023, for a related project from this data set focused on how people interpret mystical psychedelic experiences. Analyses for the current project were conducted before those from the 2023 article).…”

“…Some struggles could hinge on seeing psychedelic use as morally wrong or harmful. As mentioned earlier, some people see psychedelics as doorways to messages from the devil, demons, or evil spirits (Exline, Schutt, et al, 2023; Exline, Wilt, et al, 2023)—beliefs that should relate directly to the potential for demonic struggles. For example, people might fear that the devil would appear to them as part of a bad trip, or they may worry that the devil would use psychedelic experiences to deceive them, perhaps by creating false hopes or comforting illusions with the aim of harming them and pulling them away from God.…”