Ketamine’s Role in Spirituality: How One Synthetic Drug Catalyzes a Natural Experience
OpenAlex – January 01, 2021
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Ketamine, a common anesthetic, unexpectedly induces profound spiritual feelings and out-of-body experiences, akin to psilocybin. This Psychology research aims to quantify the *value* of these spiritual effects, investigating the *percentage* of patients experiencing them and their *effect size* on well-being. Psychotherapists often avoid discussing such experiences. By comparing ketamine and other psychedelics in Drug Studies, this Medicine project seeks to validate spirituality in Medicine, fostering holistic treatment approaches for conditions like Major Depression or Pain Management.
Abstract
This article highlights the potential spiritual effects of a popular anesthetic, ketamine, and how these spiritual effects can be used to help promote the reconciliation of spiritual and physical health. Ketamine, like the prominent psychedelic, psilocybin, has reportedly caused feelings of spiritual revelation and “out of body experiences” that many physicians may not feel qualified to discuss with their patients. This reluctance to address ketamine-induced spiritual experiences may affect the health outcomes of the patient. The primary goal of this project is to bring academic validity to considerations of the spiritual health of patients. This paper (1) investigates the extent that ketamine-induced, non-ordinary experiences can help bring awareness to the compatibility of spiritual and physical health and (2) compares the mechanisms of ketamine and psilocybin, as well as their value to the medical community due to the spiritual experiences that they catalyze. Thus, this research seeks to demonstrate that understanding the spiritual value of ketamine may encourage better communication between the physician and patient and promote more holistic healthcare approaches.