Insights on Psychedelics: A Systematic Review of Therapeutic Effects
November 25, 2024 Joshua Maurice Kugel, Ruben Laukkonen, David B. Yaden et al. preprint
Insights—sudden, subjectively true understandings—are common during psychedelic experiences and are often considered central to therapy, but their role had not been systematically assessed. This systematic review of 98 studies found that psychedelic-catalyzed insight (PCI) was positively correlated with dose and was statistically significant in 93% of studies comparing psychedelic to placebo. Crucially, 86% of studies found PCI associated with positive therapeutic outcomes, often more strongly than mystical-type experiences. The findings suggest PCI is an important topic for clinical psychedelic therapy and for understanding mechanisms of psychedelic therapy.