Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
February 11, 2022
Lucas Oliveira Maia, Yvan Beaussant, Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia
59 citations
A systematic review of 20 studies found that psychedelic-assisted therapies show positive effects for symptom control in patients with serious illness, particularly for psychological and spiritual symptoms. Most studies used lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin, or N,N-dipropyltryptamine in cancer patients. Adverse effects were physical or psychological, mild to moderate, transient, and self-resolving. The evidence suggests considerable safety of use.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 10, 2025
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia, Everson Meireles et al.
8 citations
A survey of 517 Brazilian adults found that people who never or almost never used psychedelics reported higher death anxiety than those who had used them. The study also validated the Death Anxiety Scale in Brazil. Death transcendence—especially creative and religious forms—consistently explained variations in death anxiety across all models. A negative relationship emerged between death anxiety and mystical and religious factors of death transcendence. The authors interpret that psychedelics themselves do not directly reduce death anxiety; rather, they may facilitate experiences of transcending death—the sense of continuity beyond physical death, whether spiritual or symbolic—which in turn helps lower death anxiety.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2025
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia, Everson Meireles et al.
3 citations
The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) is a valid and reliable tool for Brazilian samples, measuring two factors: religious well-being (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB). The RWB factor showed superior psychometric performance, including better group differentiation and internal consistency. A U-shaped association emerged between psychedelic use and spiritual well-being: people who never used psychedelics reported the highest RWB and EWB scores, followed by frequent users, while occasional users scored lower. This pattern highlights the need for more research on the complex relationship between psychedelics and spiritual well-being.
J Holist Nurs
May 29, 2024
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia, Pamela G. Reed
3 citations
Psychedelics may help alleviate existential and spiritual suffering in people with serious illnesses by facilitating self-transcendence, a process of expanding personal boundaries and finding new meaning. The theory of self-transcendence provides a framework for understanding how psychedelic experiences can reduce anxiety, depression, and spiritual distress in palliative care. The authors suggest that psychedelic therapy, by inducing states of connection and inner peace, addresses the meaning crisis often faced by those with life-threatening conditions. This theoretical link indicates that psychedelics could be a valuable tool for improving emotional well-being and spiritual well-being at the end of life.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
May 19, 2026
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia, Everson Meireles et al.
A Brazilian Portuguese version of the Psychedelic Integration Scales (PIS-BR) was validated in a cross-sectional online survey of 1,379 participants. The scale showed a unidimensional structure, high internal consistency (α = 0.95), and strong associations with mystical experience (r = 0.636) and positivity (r = 0.352). Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses revealed diverse integration strategies such as personal reflection, psychotherapy, spiritual practices, connection with nature, social sharing, and personal transformation, alongside reported difficulties. The findings support the PIS-BR as a valid measure for studying psychedelic integration in Brazil and highlight cultural variability in integration processes beyond acute drug effects.
Journal of religion and health
March 31, 2026
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Everson Meireles, Eliza Mara Das Chagas Paiva et al.
A Brazilian Portuguese version of the Mystical Orientation Scale Revised (MOSR-BR) was developed and tested in 505 Brazilian adults. The scale showed a single underlying factor explaining 47.6% of the variance, with very high internal consistency. Higher mystical orientation scores correlated with greater death transcendence and with religious and existential well-being. People who used psychedelic substances occasionally or frequently scored higher on mystical orientation than non-users. The authors note the study is exploratory and limited by its cross-sectional design, non-random sampling, and lack of confirmatory factor analysis or test-retest reliability.
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
March 27, 2026
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Geovanna Maria Isidoro, Cremilson de Paula Silva
For people with serious illness, psychedelic experiences can transform how they relate to their own finitude. Before the experience, death is a dominant threat, marked by fear and an illness-centered identity. During the psychedelic state, expanded consciousness enables transcendence—symbolic encounters with death, ego expansion, spiritual unity, and emotionally challenging experiences—which allow people to reinterpret suffering as transformative and reconstruct their personal narratives. Afterward, finitude becomes integrated into life with greater acceptance of mortality, reduced death anxiety, and a revaluation of life priorities. The process does not eliminate suffering but involves its traversal and integration, supporting existential adaptation at the end of life.
Revista Cacto - Ciência Arte Comunicação em Transdisciplinaridade Online
April 3, 2025
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia
Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) shows promise in reducing psychological, spiritual, and existential distress in hospice and palliative care patients. Administered in controlled settings, psilocybin can induce mystical experiences that foster acceptance of mortality and a sense of connection and meaning, as supported by the Theory of Self-Transcendence. This theory suggests that well-being involves ongoing transformation and acceptance beyond symptom relief. However, clinical use faces ethical, regulatory, and cultural barriers requiring collaborative efforts, specialized training, and more research to develop safe protocols. PAT offers a way to integrate science and spirituality, expanding palliative care beyond biomedical treatment to improve quality of life for seriously ill patients.
Progress in brain research
January 1, 2025
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia
Individuals facing serious illnesses, especially at the end of life, often report existential and spiritual suffering, which is linked to lower quality of life, greater psychological distress, and requests for hastened death. Palliative care aims to provide holistic support, but existing options frequently fail to address profound disruptions in meaning, connection, and dignity. Psychedelic-assisted therapies, particularly those using psilocybin, have re-emerged as promising interventions that may alleviate such distress. This chapter reviews the historical and conceptual background of palliative care, analyzes existential and spiritual suffering, and examines scientific evidence on psychedelic therapies. It discusses practical, clinical, ethical, and legal considerations for integrating these therapies into palliative care, highlighting the need for spiritually informed treatment models and the urgency of innovative responses to improve quality of life and death.