Longitudinal and transcultural assessment of the relationship between hallucinogens, well-being, and post-traumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic
José Carlos Bouso, Dóra Révész, Genís Oña, Giordano Novak Rossi, Juliana Mendes Rocha, Rafael G. Dos Santos, Jaime E. C. Hallak, Miguel Ángel Alcázar‐córcoles
Scientific Reports September 11, 2023 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41199-x via OpenAlex
Summary
Hallucinogenic drug users reported higher psychological well-being and lower psychopathology scores during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regular users showed even greater benefits, with higher well-being and lower psychopathology. Those experiencing more psychological distress had lower post-traumatic growth scores, but regular hallucinogen users had higher growth scores despite their distress. The study highlights cultural differences in hallucinogen use, particularly among English speakers. Further investigation into the role of hallucinogens in crises is suggested.
Study at a glance
| Design | longitudinal transcultural study |
|---|---|
| Population | English-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-speaking participants |
| Key finding | Users of hallucinogenic drugs had higher psychological well-being and lower psychopathology scores compared to non-users during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of the global population. This paper presents the results of a longitudinal transcultural study that was begun at the peak of the pandemic (in April, 2020). An online survey was used to collect data from English-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-speaking participants. The survey collected information about sociodemographics, lifestyle activities, COVID-19-related circumstances, and drug use (with an emphasis on hallucinogenic drugs), as well as involving psychometric questionnaires. Users of hallucinogenic drugs had higher psychological well-being and lower scores on psychopathology scales, both at baseline and during follow-ups. This difference was larger when users were distinguished by frequency of use, as regular users scored higher on psychological well-being and lower on psychopathology scales. Subjects with more psychological distress had lower scores for all scales of post-traumatic growth, but if they were regular hallucinogens users, they had higher scores for post-traumatic growth. When comparing the results between cultural contexts, heterogeneous results were obtained. There were more English-speaking regular users of hallucinogenic drugs. Further research should analyse the potential role of hallucinogens in large-scale catastrophes, with a special focus on post-traumatic growth.