Analysis of recreational psychedelic substance use experiences classified by substance
Psychopharmacology January 15, 2022 Adrian Hase, M Erdmann, Verena Limbach et al. 33 citations
Differences among psychedelic substances in subjective experience can be detected through quantitative linguistic analysis of online experience reports. Analyzing 2947 reports, distinct linguistic profiles emerged: MDMA reports showed high emotional intensity and cognitive process words, while Ayahuasca/DMT reports had little emotional language, few cognitive process words, increased analytical thinking language, and the closest semantic similarity to mystical experience descriptions. LSD, psilocybin, and ketamine reports differed only slightly from each other on these measures. Antidepressant reports featured more negative emotion and cognitive process words and were unlike mystical or psychedelic language. These findings may inform experimental research and clinical trials.