Associations Between Psilocybin Use Motives and Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioural Self-Stigma.
Substance use & misuse March 28, 2026 Graeme Knibb, Ruby Ward, Paul Christiansen et al.
People who use psilocybin for therapeutic or personal growth reasons tend to experience less self-stigma—the internalization of negative societal beliefs—while those who use it for social recreation tend to experience more self-stigma. In a survey of 239 people with prior psilocybin experience, three distinct motives emerged: social recreation, experiential enhancement, and therapeutic growth. Greater therapeutic growth motives were linked to lower self-stigma across cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions, and also to more frequent psilocybin use. Social recreation motives predicted higher self-stigma. Experiential enhancement showed no significant association with self-stigma. The results suggest that why people use psilocybin may shape how they internalize stigma, with implications for other substances and for clinical use.