Altered States of Consciousness are Prevalent and Insufficiently Supported Clinically: A Population Survey

About 45% of people from three international communities—UK online panelists, US-based MTurk workers, and readers of a rationalist blog—report having had at least one sudden unusual mental or somatic experience, not caused by drugs, that is often interpreted as spiritual or mystical. The most common experiences include derealization (17%), unitive experiences (15%), and ecstatic thrills (15%). Following such experiences, respondents reported a mix of positive and negative well-being outcomes; 13% reported moderate or greater suffering and 1.1% reported life-threatening suffering. Of those who suffered, 63% did not seek help. These emergent phenomena appear widespread and can lead to both benefits and harms that are not adequately addressed by clinical practice.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Adoption of potentially consciousness-altering practices may be leading to a rise in emergent phenomena (EP): sudden unusual mental or somatic experiences often interpreted as spiritual, mystical, energetic, or magical in nature. It is unclear how frequently these altered states of consciousness occur and what the clinical implications may be. Anecdotal accounts and prior literature suggest that EP may be common, under-reported, and followed by either positive or negative changes to well-being. We sought to supplement prior evidence on the prevalence and effects of EP among general populations with large-scale quantitative measurements. We measured the prevalence of EP, while not on mind-altering substances, through completion of online surveys by representative samples from three international communities (n = 3135). The communities sampled were UK Qualtrics online panelists, US-based MTurk workers, and the readers of a popular rationalist blog. Samples were broadly representative of underlying populations. Forty-five percent of participants reported experiencing non-pharmacologically induced EP at least once in their lives, including derealization (17%), unitive experiences (15%), ecstatic thrills (15%), vivid perceptions (11%), changes in perceived size (10%), bodily heat or electricity (9%), out-of-body experiences (8%), and perception of non-physical lights (5%). Respondents reported a mix of positive and negative well-being outcomes following EP, with 13% claiming moderate or greater suffering and 1.1% claiming life-threatening suffering. Of those who experienced suffering, 63% did not seek help. EP are widespread among the studied populations with potential for both positive and negative outcomes, the latter of which do not appear to be adequately addressed through recourse to clinical practice.