Psychedelics, attachment, and enculturation dynamics: Prospects and challenges
Journal of Psychedelic Studies May 30, 2025 Esenia K. Cassidy, David Dupuis, Christopher Timmermann et al. 4 citations
Attachment patterns and psychedelic use jointly influence worldview transformations and enculturation processes. Both may operate through common mechanisms: heightened epistemic trust at the psychological level and heightened serotonin 2a receptor-binding with associated hyper-plastic states at the neural level. The synthesis draws on attachment-religion research, anthropological studies of Ayahuasca use in shamanic tourism, and preliminary attachment-psychedelics research. Future research directions and ethical considerations for psychedelic-assisted therapies and cross-cultural research are outlined.