Longitudinal associations between psychedelic use and meditation practices in the United States and the United Kingdom.

People who used psychedelics during a two-month period reported a greater increase in days of mindfulness meditation per week than those who did not. Among psychedelic users, experiencing personal insight during the most intense psychedelic session was linked to larger increases in both mindfulness and loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice. Conversely, more frequent loving-kindness or compassion meditation at the start of the study was associated with less severe feelings of death or dying during the subsequent psychedelic experience. These findings suggest a bidirectional relationship: psychedelics may boost meditation engagement, while meditation may reduce challenging psychedelic experiences.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Previous research has proposed that there may be potential synergies between psychedelic and meditation interventions, but there are still knowledge gaps that merit further investigation. Using a longitudinal observational research design with samples representative of the US and UK adult population with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity (N = 9732), we investigated potential associations between self-reported psychedelic use and meditation practice. The follow-up survey was completed by 7667 respondents (79% retention rate), with 100 respondents reporting psychedelic use during the 2-month study period (1.3% of follow-up respondents). In covariate-adjusted regression models, psychedelic use during the study period was associated with greater increases in the number of days of mindfulness meditation practice in the past week (B = 0.40, p = 0.004). Among those who reported psychedelic use during the study period, covariate-adjusted regression models revealed that the subjective experience of insight during respondents' most intense psychedelic experience in that period was also associated with greater increases in the number of days of mindfulness and loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice in the past week (B = 0.42, p = 0.021; B = 0.38, p = 0.017). Notably, more days of loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice in the past week at baseline was associated with less severe subjective feelings of death or dying during respondents' most intense psychedelic experience in the study period (B = -0.29, p = 0.037). Psychedelic use might lead to greater engagement with meditation practices such as mindfulness meditation, while meditation practices such as loving-kindness or compassion medication might buffer against certain challenging experiences associated with psychedelic use.