Classic Psychedelic Use and Mechanisms of Mental Health: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Spirituality and Emotion Processing on Symptoms of Anxiety, Depressed Mood, and Disordered Eating in a Community Sample
Journal of humanistic psychology October 9, 2021 Adele Lafrance, E. Strahan, Brian M. Bird et al. 40 citations
A survey of 159 people who had used classic psychedelics found that such use was linked to greater spirituality, which in turn predicted better emotion regulation, and ultimately lower levels of anxiety, depressed mood, and disordered eating. The results suggest a pathway through which psychedelic use may improve mental health by first enhancing spirituality and then improving the ability to manage emotions. The findings add to evidence that cultivating spirituality and emotion regulation may be healing mechanisms, though the study does not establish causation.