Emotional breakthrough and psychedelics: Validation of the Emotional Breakthrough Inventory.
J Psychopharmacol July 11, 2019 Leor Roseman, Eline Haijen, Kelvin Idialu-Ikato et al. 415 citations
Emotional breakthrough—a sudden release or shift in emotion during a psychedelic experience—is a distinct and important component that predicts long-term psychological changes, separate from mystical-type experiences. A six-item Emotional Breakthrough Inventory was validated in 379 participants who completed surveys before and after a planned psychedelic experience. Emotional breakthrough scores were dose-dependent and higher when the psychedelic was taken with therapeutic intent. In a subsample of 75 participants with low baseline well-being, emotional breakthrough, mystical experience, and challenging experience scores together significantly predicted changes in well-being (r=0.45). Emotional breakthrough and mystical experience scores predicted increases in well-being, while challenging experience scores predicted smaller increases.