Medical Students' Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Psilocybin: Does Terminology and Personal Experience with Psychedelics Matter?
Psychedelic Medicine – August 18, 2023
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Future medical professionals (295 surveyed) hold surprisingly positive views on psilocybin-assisted therapy, a burgeoning area in Psychology. Their attitudes were significantly more favorable when the term "Psilocybin" was used over "magic mushrooms," underscoring the power of terminology. Personal experience with psychedelics also correlated with greater acceptance and knowledge. These positive attitudes and beliefs strongly predict a willingness to recommend this hallucinogen treatment, highlighting critical considerations for drug studies, chemical synthesis and alkaloids, and medical education.
Abstract
Background: Psilocybin and psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) have gained renewed interest due to recent findings that PAT can enhance therapeutic outcomes. In 2019, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved breakthrough therapy status to psilocybin for the treatment of depression, but PAT has yet to be approved as a therapeutic treatment for mental health disorders. Should the FDA approve PAT, medical students will serve as gatekeepers to PAT. Methods: Medical students ( n = 295) were surveyed and randomized to two terminology conditions (i.e., “psilocybin” or “magic mushrooms, MMs”) assessing their attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs. Results: Regardless of the terminology utilized, medical students held overall positive attitudes but their attitudes were significantly more positive when the term “psilocybin” was used. Furthermore, experience with psychedelics was associated with significantly more positive attitudes, beliefs, and higher self-rated knowledge. Finally, attitudes and beliefs were significant predictors of medical students' willingness to recommend PAT, if FDA approved, after controlling for covariates (e.g., personal experience with psychedelics). Conclusions: Despite some limitations, based on this study, using the term “psilocybin” might be preferable over “MMs” in a research or educational context. Although personal experience positively affects opinions toward psychedelics, beliefs and attitudes seem to be more relevant when it comes to actual medical advice.