Psychedelic Experiences and Mindfulness are Associated with Improved Wellbeing

Summary

Personal mindfulness meditation practices and recreational psychedelic use are strongly linked to improved psychological wellbeing. A study of 1219 individuals engaging in both revealed that both mindfulness and mystical experiences substantially predict increased wellbeing. Importantly, psychedelics act as a key moderation factor, amplifying how mystical experiences contribute to wellbeing. This pioneering work in clinical and social psychology offers crucial insights into the naturalistic benefits of these practices, moving beyond traditional psychotherapist approaches and informing future drug studies and natural compound pharmacology.

Abstract

Both psychedelics and mindfulness are a recently emerging topic of interest in academia and popular culture alike. Personal meditation practices and recreational psychedelic use have consistently increased in the past decade. While clinical work has shown both to improve long-term wellbeing, the data on naturalistic applications of psychedelics and mindfulness is rather lacking. The current study aims to examine the relationship between psychedelic use, mindfulness, and multi-faceted wellbeing as an outcome. Hierarchical regression was used to quantify these associations on a large sample of people (N = 1219), who engage in both meditation practices and psychedelic use. These results show that both mindfulness and mystical experiences each predict substantial increases in wellbeing. Psychedelics were found to be an important moderator of mystical experience to explain improvements in wellbeing. These data are among the first to establish a strong relationship between personal mindfulness practice, recreational psychedelic use, and overall psychological wellbeing in a naturalistic framework.

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