The Mental Health Troubles of the "Spiritual but not Religious"

Scholars have increasingly investigated the relationship between spirituality and/or religion and mental and physical health in recent years. It almost seems to have become conventional wisdom that spirituality is associated with better health, mental and physical. However, a recently published British study found that people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious are more likely to have a mental disorder compared to conventionally religious people and to those who are neither religious nor spiritual. Conventionally religious people and those who were neither religious nor spiritual did not differ in their mental health status, suggesting that being religious offers few advantages in terms of mental health. The reasons for this are still unclear. Studies on the psychology of spirituality offer some clues as to why spiritual but not religious people might be prone to poorer mental health although more research is needed to fully explain the relationship.

Recent scholarship has criticised claims that “spirituality” is beneficial for mental health (see this article for example) based on the fact that definitions of spirituality have been broadened so much that they imply mental health by definition (Koenig, 2008). Spirituality traditionally had a narrow definition centred on belief in supernatural spirits such as God. However, mental health services  have become increasingly interested in addressing the “spiritual” needs of consumers in recent times, and as a result attempts have been made to redefine the term in a way that would be maximally inclusive, so as to apply to people from diverse religious backgrounds and to those with no religion (Koenig, 2008). Many studies have broadened the term to incorporate a wide range of positive psychological concepts, such as purpose in life, hopefulness, social connectedness, peacefulness and well-being in general. This becomes problematic for research attempting to assess the relationship between “spirituality” and mental health because by most definitions good mental health implies that a person has some purpose in life, is hopeful, socially connected and has peace and well-being. Thus it becomes a meaningless tautology to say that spirituality is associated with better mental health when the term is defined this way (Lindeman & Aarnio, 2007).

A recent British study looked at the relationship between spirituality and mental health using a more traditional understanding of the term to avoid this problem of tautology (King et al., 2013). The study involved in-depth interviews with over 7000 people in England. Participants were sorted into those whose understanding of life was predominantly religious, spiritual, or neither. These terms were explained in the following way:

‘By religion, we mean the actual practice of a faith, e.g. going to a temple, mosque, church or synagogue. Some people do not follow a religion but do have spiritual beliefs or experiences. Some people make sense of their lives without any religious or spiritual belief.’

Participants were also interviewed in depth about their mental health, alcohol and drug use, social support, psychotropic medication usage, gambling, and were asked about their overall happiness. 

The results showed that religious participants were similar to non-religious/non-spiritual ones in regards to their mental health in most respects, although the religious were less likely to have used or been dependent on drugs in the last year. However, there were striking differences for those in the spiritual but not religious category. Compared to people who were neither religious nor spiritual, spiritual but not religious people were more likely to take psychotropic medication, to use or be dependent on recreational drugs, to have a generalised anxiety disorder, phobia, or any neurotic disorder, or to have abnormal eating attitudes. These differences still held even when taking into account social support and physical health, as well as age, sex, and ethnicity. None of the groups differed in their overall happiness though.

The authors concluded that people who are spiritual but not religious in their understanding of life are more vulnerable to mental disorders than other people. The nature of the causal relationship between spirituality and mental disorder is currently unknown. An earlier British study had similar findings and the authors noted that it is possible that not having a religious framework for one’s beliefs could lead to mental disorder in people who have a need for a spiritual understanding of life (King, Weich, Nazroo, & Blizard, 2006). Alternatively, having a mental disorder might prompt a person to engage in a spiritual quest in the hope of mental healing or deeper understanding of one’s problems.

Previous findings concerning the personality traits associated with “spirituality” and religiosity might shed some light onto the relationship between spirituality and mental disorder (Saucier & Skrzypińska, 2006). Spirituality in this study was defined as “quest for meaning, unity, connectedness to nature, humanity, and the transcendent.” Note that this definition focuses on subjective and mystical understandings of life, in contrast to more conventional religiosity which emphasises adherence to orthodox belief systems. Although many people describe themselves in terms of both conventional religiosity and subjective spirituality, people who were more focused on subjective spirituality and less interested in religiosity tended to have distinctly different personality characteristics compared to those with a more orthodox religious orientation. People who described themselves in conventional religious terms tended to be fairly conservative in their attitudes and beliefs. Those who were more spiritual and less religious tended to be more non-conforming and even peculiar in their outlook and personal traits. For example, they were more likely than other people to describe themselves as weird and crazy. Additionally, they tended to believe in a range of “alternative” ideas (such as psychokinesis, reincarnation, astrology, witchcraft, and psychic powers), say that they “respect the power of magic,” and scored highly in measures of magical thinking, fantasy proneness, and absorption[1].

"Unfiltered anger" by Louis Dyer

Characteristics such as magical thinking and so on have been linked to a set of traits known as schizotypy, or proneness to mildly psychotic thinking. Schizotypy refers to a cluster of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural traits that are similar to but generally milder than those exhibited in schizophrenia. It is associated with unusual beliefs about reality (e.g. that it is possible to harm other by thinking bad thoughts about them) and the tendency to have odd perceptual experiences (such as feeling that strangers are reading one’s mind). Other research has found that "New Age" beliefs and practices (in this study this term encompassed such things as yoga, Reiki, astrology, and Tarot) are associated with schizotypy (Farias, Claridge, & Lalljee, 2005). Schizotypy tends to be associated with high levels of anxiety and depression (Lewandowski et al., 2006). It could be the case that people with schizotypal tendencies and associated proneness to anxiety and depression may find unconventional spiritual ideas to be particularly appealing. It is also possible (and I admit this is speculation) that adherence to such ideas exacerbates their existing mental imbalances. (It should be noted though that many people with schizotypal tendencies are otherwise well-adjusted. Schizotypy has also been linked to artistic creativity.)

Whether unconventional spiritual pursuits are harmful to mental health is not yet known. In some respects, the association between spirituality and mental disorder seems contrary to the benefits that many spiritual traditions claim to offer. Spiritual fulfilment is supposed to lead to inner peace, even bliss. In fact certain mystics have gone so far as to claim that spiritual “work” can lead to an inner transformation that will result in “True wisdom and perfect happiness”! The very idea of “perfect happiness” seems like an impossible mirage, although a more charitable interpretation is that the term is intended as a poetic metaphor rather than a literal reality. So why are so many spiritual people so troubled? It may be that some people are simply not that successful in pursuing whatever spiritual fulfilment they are seeking. King et al. (2013) found that those who were spiritual but not religious rated the strength of their belief and the importance of the practice of their faith somewhat lower than the religious participants in their study. This might indicate a lack of dedication or self-discipline on the part of those who claim to be spiritual but not religious. More detailed studies are needed to determine if this is the case.

Another limitation of the study by King et al. was that it did not examine the specific content of the beliefs and practices of the spiritual but not religious. The content of one’s spiritual beliefs could well affect one’s mental health. For example, belief in the interconnectedness of things might be relatively beneficial, whereas more “superstitious” beliefs such as in the “evil eye” could be harmful to one’s mental health.  Research could examine whether certain particular spiritual practices are more associated with mental disorder than others. For example, yoga and meditation are generally thought to be beneficial to one’s well-being, but more bizarre practices (such as “regression” to before one’s birth) might encourage a person to hold peculiar ideas that may not serve them well in real life.

An additional puzzle is why the three groups in the King et al. study did not differ in their overall happiness even though one group was more prone to mental disorder. Happiness was assessed with a single question, whereas mental health status was assessed with a clinical interview, so a more detailed assessment of well-being might provide a more nuanced picture.

Considering the increasing prominence in modern society of people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, more in-depth research is needed to understand fully why this group seems to be particularly vulnerable to mental illness.

Follow me on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter.

© Scott McGreal. Please do not reproduce without permission. Brief excerpts may be quoted as long as a link to the original article is provided. 

This article also appears on Psychology Today on my blog Unique - Like Everybody Else. Check out my latest articles!

Other blog posts related to spirituality

Psilocybin and personality

Psilocybin and brain function

Psilocybin for anxiety and depression in cancer

DMT, aliens and reality – part 1

DMT, aliens and reality – part 2

Precognition and the search for the soul – part 1

Precognition and the search for the soul – part 2

The Spirituality of Psychedelic Drug Users

References

Farias, M., Claridge, G., & Lalljee, M. (2005). Personality and cognitive predictors of New Age practices and beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(5), 979-989. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2005.04.003

King, M., Marston, L., McManus, S., Brugha, T., Meltzer, H., & Bebbington, P. (2012). Religion, spirituality and mental health: results from a national study of English households The British Journal of Psychiatry, 202 (1), 68-73 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.112.112003

King, M., Weich, S., Nazroo, J., & Blizard, B. (2006). Religion, mental health and ethnicity. EMPIRIC – A national survey of England. Journal of Mental Health, 15(2), 153-162. doi: doi:10.1080/09638230600608891

Koenig, H. G. (2008). Concerns About Measuring "Spirituality" in Research. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196(5), 349-355 310.1097/NMD.1090b1013e31816ff31796.

Lewandowski, K. E., Barrantes-Vidal, N., Nelson-Gray, R. O., Clancy, C., Kepley, H. O., & Kwapil, T. R. (2006). Anxiety and depression symptoms in psychometrically identified schizotypy. Schizophrenia Research, 83(2–3), 225-235. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2005.11.024

Lindeman, M., & Aarnio, K. (2007). Superstitious, magical, and paranormal beliefs: An integrative model. Journal of Research in Personality, 41(4), 731-744. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2006.06.009

Saucier, G., & Skrzypińska, K. (2006). Spiritual But Not Religious? Evidence for Two Independent Dispositions. Journal of Personality, 74(5), 1257-1292. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00409.x

---

[1] I discuss absorption and its relationship to mystical experiences occasioned by psychedelic drugs in a previous post.

Spirituality through Psychedelic Drugs

Psychedelic drugs, including LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline, have long had an association with spiritual pursuits. For example, psychedelic plants, such as psilocybe mushrooms, peyote, and ayahuasca have long been used in shamanic traditions in the Americas (Lerner & Lyvers, 2006). Recent research has found that administering psychedelic drugs in a supportive setting can occasion profound mystical experiences. For example, a recent study found that about 60% volunteers in an experiment on the effects of psilocybin, who had never before used psychedelic drugs, had a “complete mystical experience” characterised by experiences such as unity with all things, transcendence of time and space, a sense of insight into the ultimate nature of reality, and feelings of ineffability, awe, and profound positive emotions such as joy, peace, and love (Griffiths, Richards, McCann, & Jesse, 2006).

Image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Due to the association between psychedelic drugs and mystical experiences, some recent research has looked at how the spiritual belief and attitudes of psychedelic drug users compare to users of non-psychedelic drugs and to non-drug users. A study by Lerner and Lyvers (2006) compared people who used high doses of classic psychedelic drugs (e.g. LSD, mescaline and psilocybin) with people who used other illegal drugs (mostly marijuana and amphetamines) who had never tried psychedelic drugs, and people who had never used illegal drugs. (Only high-dose psychedelic drug users were included, as high doses are required to induce mystical states. Low dose usage is popular with people who primarily enjoy the perceptual effects such as enhancement of music during raves.) Psychedelic drug users endorsed more mystical beliefs (such as in a universal soul, no fear of death, unity of all things, existence of a transcendent reality, and oneness with God, nature and the universe). Psychedelic drug users also said they placed greater value on spirituality and concern for others, and less value on financial prosperity, than the other two groups. This accords with findings from another study (Móró, Simon, Bárd, & Rácz, 2011) that found that psychedelic drug users regarded spirituality as more personally important compared to users of other drugs and non-drug users. Spirituality in this latter study was defined as “one’s relationship to God, or whatever you perceive to be Ultimate Transcendence.”

These findings do suggest that people who use psychedelic drugs consider themselves more spiritual, and perhaps less materialistic, than people who prefer other drugs or who do not use illegal drugs at all. A more difficult question to answer is whether taking psychedelic drugs induces people to become more open to spiritual beliefs and values, or whether people who already have these beliefs and values are more inclined than others to use these drugs. Lerner and Lyvers suggest that the answer is probably a combination of both as persons on a spiritual quest are more likely to take these drugs and their subsequent experiences may strengthen and deepen their spiritual values and beliefs.

There does seem to be evidence that there may be a two-way relationship between psychedelic drug use and having spiritual and mystical beliefs. A study on psilocybin by Griffiths et al. (2011) found that people who had never used psychedelic drugs before reported long-term (assessed over a period of 14 months) increases in “death transcendence”. That is, participants expressed an increased belief that there is continuity after death, e.g. belief that death is not an ending but a transition to something even greater than this life. One of the core features of mystical experience is “an intuitive belief that the experience

is a source of objective truth about the nature of reality” (MacLean, Johnson, & Griffiths, 2011). As noted earlier, about 60% of volunteers in the Griffiths et al. study reported a complete mystical experience, which they regarded as having sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance months later. From this it seems reasonable to think that one of the outcomes of the mystical experience was to convince volunteers that consciousness does continue after death. Additionally, as noted in a previous post, volunteers who experienced a complete mystical experience on psilocybin had a subsequent increase in the personality domain of openness to experience. People high in openness to experience also tend to endorse more mystical and spiritual beliefs, although they may also endorse less conventional religious belief.

On the other hand, a person’s motives for taking psychedelic drugs in the first place are most probably related to their pre-existing beliefs and values. There is a subculture of people called “psychonauts” who are interested in taking psychedelic drugs for purposes of self-exploration, which can include religious and spiritual motives. Móró et al. referred to such purposes as autognosis (self-knowledge) and found that autognosis was one of the main motives for using psychedelic drugs and for preferring them to other drugs. Furthermore, as noted elsewhere, people who are high in a personality trait known as absorption (a tendency to “lose oneself” when focused on something of particular interest, within or without oneself) have a much stronger response to psychedelic drugs and are more likely to have a mystical experience compared to people low in capacity for absorption. This would seem to indicate that some people are more likely than others to “benefit” from psychedelic drugs, in terms of having a profound spiritual experience. Hence, people with certain personality traits as well as the desire for autognosis are probably more predisposed than others to seek some sort of spiritual awakening through psychedelic drugs. 

Having considered that psychedelic drugs may be conducive to mystical and spiritual beliefs and experiences, it may be worth considering what benefits psychedelic drug use might have. Griffiths et al. (2008) found that fourteen months after taking psilocybin for the first time nearly two-thirds of volunteers rated the experience as in the top five for both most personally meaningful and most spiritually significant experience in their entire lives. About 64% said the experience had increased their personal well-being and life satisfaction over the fourteen month period. Having a mystical experience while on psilocybin appeared to play a central role in these high ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance. Additionally, volunteers said that they experienced positive changes in their attitudes towards life and to the self, as well as increased positive mood and a sense of greater altruism (Griffiths, et al., 2006). These self-ratings were confirmed by people who knew the volunteers well. The finding of increased altruism seems to concur with the finding by Lerner and Lyvers that psychedelic drug users reported greater concern for others compared to users of other drugs and non-drug users. Additionally, a study I discussed elsewhere suggested that psilocybin could reduce anxiety and depression in people with terminal cancer. 

On the other hand, it might be tempting to expect too much from psychedelic drugs. Lerner and Lyvers noted that they were expecting that psychedelic drug users might cope better with stress than non-drug users because they believed that mystical and spiritual experiences would act as a buffer against stressful events. On the contrary they found that psychedelic drug users did not differ from non-drug users in their self-reported ability to cope with stress. Interestingly, both of these groups did report better coping than users of other drugs. This seems to suggest that users of non-psychedelic drugs do not cope well with stress, and this may well be a factor in their drug use. Móró et al. also found that psychedelic drug users did not differ from others (including users of other drugs as well as non-drug users in this study) in their apparent ability to cope with stress or in their sense of having a purpose in life. Additionally, I think it worth noting that Móró et al. found that their spirituality measure had only quite weak positive correlations with coping ability and purpose in life. This seems to suggest that one’s spirituality (i.e. one’s relationship to God or “ultimate transcendence”) may make little practical difference to one’s ability to cope with daily life or to conceive a sense of purpose in one’s life. I am inclined to speculate that mystical and spiritual beliefs might be of particular benefit when dealing with ultimate concerns such as dying, but may have considerably less practical value when dealing with more mundane concerns or even in relation to deciding one’s life direction. More research may help to make these issues clearer.

Additionally, Lerner and Lyvers were somewhat surprised to find that psychedelic drug users did not differ from the other groups in the value they placed on humility. Mystical experiences tend to be associated with a sense of self-transcendence that the authors initially thought might induce people to feel more humble about their place in the greater scheme of things and to attach less importance to their own ego. However, this notion is debatable. Sceptical writer John Horgan considers that in some people mystical experiences could actually inflate their egos leading to grandiose beliefs about their superiority to others. That is, a person having a mystical experience might come away convinced that they are a prophet or a guru, or otherwise feel that they are more “enlightened” than other people.  

One final note of caution I want to make is of a more philosophical nature. I think psychedelic drugs have great potential value, both as therapeutic tools and in research about the nature of the mind and consciousness. Mystical experiences induced by these drugs appear to have quite profound personal significance for those who experience them. One of the apparent features of the psychedelic mystical experience is that people experience, at least temporarily, a sense that deep truths about the nature of objective reality are being revealed to them. After the psychedelic trip ends some people might come away convinced that these experiences are genuine indicators of something real, whereas others may conclude that the experiences are an illusion. I don’t think research has clarified the proportion of people who find these “insights” convincing” compared to those who have doubts, so I think this is worth further study.[1] My own belief is that while such experiences may indeed be wonderful and worthwhile, they do not provide valid evidence about the nature of reality. I agree with Sam Harris who has stated that we need to make a distinction between describing the nature of the psychedelic experience and making claims about the nature of reality. He says we should be very slow to extrapolate from what one experiences in the darkness of one’s closed eyes to what is true of the universe. He goes on to say that we need to be interested in the full spectrum of human experience and to be able to speak about it rationally without engaging in pseudoscience. Perhaps, future research might consider what benefits psychedelic drugs might have for people who are open to the full psychedelic experience, yet willing to remain sceptical about their ability to reveal “ultimate truths”.

 This article has previously appeared on Psychology Today on my blog Unique - Like Everybody Else.

Follow me on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter.

© Scott McGreal. Please do not reproduce without permission. Brief excerpts may be quoted as long as a link to the original article is provided.  

Other posts about psychedelic drugs and/or spirituality

Psilocybin and personality

Psilocybin and brain function

Psilocybin for anxiety and depression in cancer

DMT, aliens and reality – part 1

DMT, aliens and reality – part 2

DMT: Gateway to Reality, Fantasy or What?

Troubled Souls: Spirituality as a Mental Health Hazard

Peak Experiences in Psilocybin Users 

 

References

Griffiths, R., Johnson, M., Richards, W., Richards, B., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2011). Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effects. Psychopharmacology, 218(4), 649-665. doi: 10.1007/s00213-011-2358-5

Griffiths, R., Richards, W., Johnson, M., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2008). Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 22(6), 621.

Griffiths, R. R., Richards, W. A., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2006). Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology, 187(3), 268-283. doi: 10.1007/s00213-006-0457-5

Lerner M, & Lyvers M (2006). Values and beliefs of psychedelic drug users: a cross-cultural study. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 38 (2), 143-7 PMID: 16903453

MacLean, K. A., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R. (2011). Mystical Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Lead to Increases in the Personality Domain of Openness. Journal of Psychopharmacology. doi: 10.1177/0269881111420188

Móró L, Simon K, Bárd I, & Rácz J (2011). Voice of the psychonauts: coping, life purpose, and spirituality in psychedelic drug users. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 43 (3), 188-98 PMID: 22111402

---

[1] In a previous article I noted that many users of the drug DMT experience striking visions of non-human entities, and that some users were left convinced that these were somehow objectively real. 

Psilocybin could improve quality of life in the terminally ill

A recent study of people with advanced-stage cancer found that a single dose of psilocybin led to improvements in anxiety and depression. Psilocybin might enhance mood by shifting attention away from negative and towards positive emotional information. Mystical experiences occurring under the influence of psilocybin could help ease existential anxiety by changing a person’s attitudes towards death and dying. Research studies in this area have not used adequate experimental controls and therefore these results should be considered tentative until more rigorous research has been conducted. 

A pioneering studies in the 1970s found that psychotherapy combined with the use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD appeared to help to reduce depression, physical pain and anxiety about death in people with terminal cancer (Grof, Goodman, Richards, & Kurland, 1973). The authors’ impression was that the patients who made the most dramatic changes were those who had a “peak mystical experience” of oneness with the universe usually preceded by an experience of spiritual “death and rebirth”. Profound experiences of this nature were seen in 25% of sessions. The authors argued that profound religious and spiritual experiences, such as a “peak mystical experience” were particularly effective in helping patients accept death. However, they also noted that other kinds of emotional improvements frequently occurred even without the presence of a mystical experience.

This study was of an exploratory nature and due to the absence of any control group it is not possible to know whether the effects observed were specifically due to drug effects, the psychotherapy, or even placebo effects. In spite of these promising results, psychedelic drug research was effectively banned when these substances were made illegal. In recent years there has been something of a revival of interest in this area. A 2011 study again examined the use of psychedelic drugs in people with advanced-stage cancer (Grob et al., 2011). This study used psilocybin rather than LSD because research suggests that the effects of psilocybin are more euphoric and less likely to produce panic or paranoid reactions than LSD. The drug produced no adverse medical effects and was well-tolerated.

The treatment appeared to have beneficial effects on depression and anxiety. Six months after taking psilocybin, the patients had a significant reduction in depression. What I found particularly interesting was that they also showed a reduction in trait anxiety that was significant at 1 and 3 months after treatment. Trait anxiety refers to how much anxiety a person generally feels and is usually considered a stable feature of one’s personality, closely related to a broader trait called neuroticism. The results of this study might seem to suggest that psilocybin could produce a lasting change in this feature of personality. As noted in a previous article, another study using healthy volunteers found that psilocybin produced lasting changes in the personality trait of openness to experience (MacLean, Johnson, & Griffiths, 2011). However, this study found no change in other personality traits, including neuroticism. It seems plausible that when people have advanced-stage cancer their ratings of their general levels of anxiety would be elevated compared to healthy people due to their illness. If this is the case, perhaps psilocybin helped reduce their heightened anxiety to more normal levels. However, without knowing the patients’ levels of trait anxiety before their illness it is not possible to draw any definite conclusions.

Another limitation of this study, like the 1970s study cited earlier, is that there was no comparison group of patients who did not receive psilocybin to serve as an experimental control. For this reason, it is not possible to rule out the possibility that the beneficial effects observed were due to placebo effects. For example, the patients might have benefited simply from the care and attention they received from the researchers during the study. The authors of the study acknowledged this limitation and explained that they believed that it would have been unethical to withhold a potentially beneficial treatment from the terminally ill. One possible response to this is that the psilocybin treatment could have been compared to a more conventional treatment such as psychotherapy. If a single-dose of psilocybin could be shown to be as or even more beneficial than more costly and intensive treatment strategies such as psychotherapy then care of the terminally ill could be enriched.

In spite, of these limitations, the study results remain suggestive. Studies with healthy volunteers have found that after a single dose of psilocybin, volunteers reported improvements in mood, attitudes to life and the self, positive behaviour changes including improved relationships, and increased spirituality, as well as increased satisfaction with life that persisted for months afterwards (Griffiths et al., 2011; Griffiths, Richards, McCann, & Jesse, 2006). Interestingly, Griffiths et al. (2011) found that volunteers reported increases in “death transcendence”. That is, participants expressed an increased belief that there is continuity after death, e.g. belief that death is not an ending but a transition to something even greater than this life. It seems worth noting that all the participants in this study were involved in religious or spiritual activities prior to the study. Thus, they might have been especially receptive to the idea that “spiritual” experiences induced by the drug could represent real insights into reality.

A forthcoming paper on the effects of psilocybin on attention provides insights into why psilocybin might have beneficial effects on mood and relieving depression (Kometer et al., 2012). People who are depressed show a bias towards paying more attention to negative than to positive stimuli. Depressed people find it harder to recognise happy facial expressions and respond more slowly to positive compared to negative words in emotional tasks. This emotional bias has been linked to problematic functioning in the serotonin system in the brain. Psilocybin and LSD produce their hallucinogenic effects by acting on the serotonin system, and Kometer et al.’s study found evidence that psilocybin can influence attentional biases in a positive way. In this study, volunteers under the influence of psilocybin experienced increased positive mood and took longer to react to negative or neutral words compared to positive ones. Interestingly, these effects did not occur when participants had been administered a drug called ketanserin, which blocks serotonin receptors[1], before being given psilocybin. This suggests that psilocybin can induce biases of attention towards positive and away from negative emotional stimuli. Additionally, these effects appear to be due to the action of psilocybin on the serotonin system. If it is true that psilocybin treatment can be effective in reducing depression, these findings seem to suggest a plausible mechanism. This might explain why volunteers in the studies by Griffiths et al. reported persistent positive changes in their attitudes to many aspects of their lives.

The findings from these studies seem very promising. The research cited does seem to suggest that mystical experiences induced by psilocybin can help a person overcome the fear of death. Additionally, psilocybin seems to have a generally positive effect on mood and attitude that could alleviate depression. A limitation of the studies cited is that they did not use no-drug control groups for comparison to show that the effects were actually due to the drug rather than other factors such as placebo effects. Thus, it would be premature to definitely conclude that psilocybin is an effective treatment for depression and existential anxiety in people with cancer, even though the results seem very suggestive. More rigorous research designs are needed to provide more conclusive evidence. Additionally, it would be interesting to examine whether psilocybin might help a person with cancer accept death if they do not have any religious or spiritual beliefs. 

---

[1] For those who are interested, ketanserin specifically blocks 5-HT_2A receptors. The 5-HT_2A receptor system has been implicated in depressive pessimism and is known to be affected by antidepressant drugs.  

This post has previously appeared on Psychology Today in my blog Unique - Like Everybody Else

Follow me on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter.

© Scott McGreal. Please do not reproduce without permission. Brief excerpts may be quoted as long as a link to the original article is provided.  

Other posts about psychedelic drugs and/or spirituality

Psilocybin and personality

Psilocybin and brain function

DMT, aliens and reality – part 1

DMT, aliens and reality – part 2

DMT: Gateway to Reality, Fantasy or What?

Troubled Souls: Spirituality as a Mental Health Hazard

The Spirituality of Psychedelic Drug Users 

Peak Experiences in Psilocybin Users

References

            Griffiths RR, Johnson MW, Richards WA, Richards BD, McCann U, & Jesse R (2011). Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effects. Psychopharmacology, 218 (4), 649-65 PMID: 21674151

           Griffiths RR, Richards WA, McCann U, & Jesse R (2006). Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology, 187 (3) PMID: 16826400

            Grob CS, Danforth AL, Chopra GS, Hagerty M, McKay CR, Halberstadt AL, & Greer GR (2011). Pilot study of psilocybin treatment for anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer. Archives of general psychiatry, 68 (1), 71-8 PMID: 20819978

Grof, S., Goodman, L. E., Richards, W. A., & Kurland, A. A. (1973). LSD-Assisted Psychotherapy in Patients with Terminal Cancer. Int. Pharmacopsychiat., 8, 129-144.

            Kometer M, Schmidt A, Bachmann R, Studerus E, Seifritz E, & Vollenweider FX (2012). Psilocybin biases facial recognition, goal-directed behavior, and mood state toward positive relative to negative emotions through different serotonergic subreceptors. Biological psychiatry, 72 (11), 898-906 PMID: 22578254

MacLean, K. A., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R. (2011). Mystical Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Lead to Increases in the Personality Domain of Openness. Journal of Psychopharmacology. doi: 10.1177/0269881111420188

  

Your brain on psilocybin

As reported in a previous article, a number of fascinating studies recently have focused on the effects of the drug psilocybin, a classic psychedelic drug. Scientists still do not have a good understanding of the brain mechanisms by which psilocybin produces its effects. A recent study used brain scanning (specifically, functional magnetic resonance imaging) to obtain a window into the brain of 30 volunteers injected with this drug in order to understand what happens during the transition between normal waking consciousness and the onset of drug effects (Carhart-Harris et al., 2012). The researchers were surprised to discover that drug effects were associated with decreases in activity in a number of key brain areas, rather than the expected increase. This finding has led to speculations about the relationship between brain activity and mystical states experienced under psychedelic drugs. However, the actual implications of the study’s findings are far from clear.

In this study, participants received two brain scans each, once after receiving a saline injection, and once after receiving a psilocybin injection. The effects on brain activity were then compared. After receiving psilocybin brain blood flow decreased, indicating reduced activity. In particular, activity in areas regarded as important network hubs that maintain the connectivity of the various areas of the brain showed the most consistent deactivation. These areas are known as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). (If you’re put off by neuroscience please don’t quit reading just yet! I’ll try to keep the brain science as simple as possible.) These two areas appear to play important roles in the regulation of self-awareness as they are particularly activated when people are asked to think about themselves for example (Wicker, Ruby, Royet, & Fonlupt, 2003). The authors thought it was quite interesting that these areas actually show much higher activity than other parts of the brain under normal conditions, yet showed the greatest deactivation under the drug. Additionally, the intensity of the alterations of conscious experience reported by the volunteers was proportional to the decrease in brain activity. That is, the more brain activity decreased, the more vivid the “trip” experienced.  

Why psilocybin might induce reductions in brain activity is not known, but it is natural to speculate. The authors argued that the findings are consistent with Aldous Huxley’s idea that normal consciousness acts like a “reducing valve” that actually constrains how much information a person normally takes in, so that one is not overwhelmed by chaotic stimuli. Therefore, the apparent “mind-expanding” effect of psychedelic drugs is due to a relaxation of this constraining effect. The reduced activity of the brains connector hubs might permit an “unconstrained style of cognition” producing psychedelic effects (Carhart-Harris, et al., 2012).

In an article for Time magazine, Carhart-Harris takes these speculations even further. Under high doses of psilocybin many people experience a sense of ego-transcendence in which the boundaries of the self appear to dissolve resulting in a blissful state of oneness with the universe. As noted earlier, areas of the brain associated with self-awareness, the mPFC and the PCC, showed a marked reduction in activity under psilocybin. This could imply that ego-transcendence might be facilitated by reduced activity in these brain areas. This idea seems appealing when considering that contemplative traditions aim to produce ego-transcendence by quietening the mind.

 However, let’s not jump to conclusions just yet. There is a potential problem with Carhart-Harris et al.’s interpretation of their results that they appear to have overlooked. Previous research has found that a number of areas of the brain, including the mPFC and the PCC actually show heightened levels of activity when a person is simply at rest and show decreased activity when concentrating attention on various tasks unrelated to thinking about oneself (D'Argembeau et al., 2005; Wicker, et al., 2003). So while it is true that these brain areas are important for self-awareness, simple tasks such as looking out a window or thinking about another person can reduce activity in these areas under normal circumstances. In the Carhart-Harris et al. study brain activity under psilocybin was compared to brain activity when simply resting. This is potentially a problem because activity in the mPFC and PCC tends to be highest when at rest. Therefore, reduced activity in these regions under psilocybin might simply be because volunteers were paying attention to the unfolding hallucinatory experience as opposed to thinking of nothing in particular. Future studies could test this by using a comparison condition where participants were engaged in an attentional task as opposed to simply resting. If there were noticeable differences in the degree of deactivation in the key brain areas this might provide evidence that these particular brain areas do play a special role in the psilocybin experience.

In spite of these concerns, I do think the idea that psilocybin permits an “unconstrained style of cognition” is an intriguing one. As discussed in my previous article there is a strong association between the personality trait absorption and the degree to which a person experiences alterations in consciousness under psilocybin (Studerus, Gamma, Kometer, & Vollenweider, 2012). Absorption is associated with a tendency to have unusual ideas and loose associations, suggesting that high absorption is associated with a style of cognition that is much less constrained than that of the average person. Additionally, one study of volunteers who had never taken psychedelic drugs before found that volunteers who experienced a profound mystical experience under psilocybin underwent a long-term increase in openness to experience (MacLean, Johnson, & Griffiths, 2011), a personality trait closely related to absorption. This suggests that for some people, taking psilocybin could lead to a lasting change in their cognitive style, perhaps related to the intensely “unconstrained” style experienced under psilocybin.

The study of the effects of psilocybin on brain function is in its infancy. More research into this area could lead to some intriguing findings about the relationship between the brain and consciousness.

Further reading

Another critique of the Carhart-Harris et al. study can be found here.

Follow me on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter.

© Scott McGreal. Please do not reproduce without permission. Brief excerpts may be quoted as long as a link to the original article is provided. 

This article also appears on Psychology Today on my blog Unique - Like Everybody Else.

Other posts about psychedelic drugs and/or spirituality

Psilocybin and personality

Psilocybin for anxiety and depression in cancer

Peak Experiences in Psilocybin Users 

DMT, aliens and reality – part 1

DMT, aliens and reality – part 2

DMT: Gateway to Reality, Fantasy or What? 

Troubled Souls: Spirituality as a Mental Health Hazard

The Spirituality of Psychedelic Drug Users

References

            Carhart-Harris RL, Erritzoe D, Williams T, Stone JM, Reed LJ, Colasanti A, Tyacke RJ, Leech R, Malizia AL, Murphy K, Hobden P, Evans J, Feilding A, Wise RG, & Nutt DJ (2012). Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (6), 2138-43 PMID: 22308440

D'Argembeau, A., Collette, F., Van der Linden, M., Laureys, S., Del Fiore, G., Degueldre, C., . . . Salmon, E. (2005). Self-referential reflective activity and its relationship with rest: a PET study. NeuroImage, 25(2), 616-624. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.11.048

            MacLean, K., Johnson, M., & Griffiths, R. (2011). Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness Journal of Psychopharmacology, 25 (11), 1453-1461 DOI: 10.1177/0269881111420188

Studerus, E., Gamma, A., Kometer, M., & Vollenweider, F. X. (2012). Prediction of Psilocybin Response in Healthy Volunteers. PLoS ONE, 7(2), e30800. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030800

           Wicker, B., Ruby, P., Royet, J., & Fonlupt, P. (2003). A relation between rest and the self in the brain? Brain Research Reviews, 43 (2), 224-230 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2003.08.003

Precognition: Science meets Alice in Wonderland, part 2

Part 1 of this article discussed Daryl Bem’s studies on precognition and the failure of subsequent studies to replicate his results. This second part discusses reasons for the incompatibility of parapsychology with modern science and possible reasons why interest in this field persists in spite of its continued failure to establish its validity. Belief in the paranormal is commonly associated with magical thinking and mystical belief. Many parapsychologists seem to be motivated by a desire to establish the reality of a nonmaterial dimension of existence, and in particular that of the human soul. 

  Alcock (1987) has argued that there are two main views on what psychic phenomena (psi) might represent if real. One view is that psi will ultimately turn out to be something physical that will eventually be incorporated into an expanded version of the worldview of normal science. Other phenomena that were once regarded as inexplicable, such as the ability of bats to navigate in the dark, or of birds to navigate over thousands of miles, have eventually been explained in physical terms acceptable to modern science. In this view, psi will eventually be shown not to be ‘paranormal’ at all.

Philosophical implications of precognition were explored in the film "Minority Report"

  The other view is that psi is a manifestation of a nonphysical dimension of existence. In this view, psi represents a “radically different relationship between consciousness and the physical world” than is accepted as possible by modern science (Alcock, 1987). Therefore, disputes about psi represent a clash between two conflicting views about reality. The monistic materialistic view currently accepted in neuroscience regards mind as an emergent manifestation of brain processes. The view of many parapsychologists is the dualistic one that regards mind as at least partially independent of the brain. Parapsychology originally developed in the nineteenth century out of attempts to scientifically validate the concept of survival of consciousness/personality after bodily death, and this subject is still researched by parapsychologists today.

According to a survey 56% of parapsychologists believed that the results of parapsychological research indicate a non-material basis of life or thought, whilst 43% disagreed, and 1% had no opinion (Akers, 1987). This finding indicates that although there is diversity in what parapsychologists believe, the majority of parapsychologists do believe in a non-material dimension of reality, and hence believe in mind-body dualism. Many people feel that the existence of psi has important spiritual implications. According to Kennedy (2005), paranormal experiences are similar to mystical ones in that they result in an increased sense of meaning in life, interconnectedness, and spirituality. A survey of people who believe they have had paranormal or transcendent experiences found that 72% agreed that as a result of these experiences they believed that a higher power was watching over them.

Research has found that paranormal belief and experience, as well as mystical experience, are positively correlated with a number of psychological characteristics including absorption, magical ideation, fantasy proneness, creative personality, and manic experience (Thalbourne & Storm, 2012). The researchers argue that underlying all these tendencies is a psychological trait known as transliminality, “the tendency for psychological material (imagery, ideation, affect, and perception) to cross thresholds into or out of consciousness.” In other words, both paranormal and mystical beliefs are related to a propensity for imagination and fantasy.

Transliminality has also been used to explain why a substantial minority of scientists hold religious beliefs in spite of their commitment to empiricism (MacPherson & Kelly, 2011). MacPherson and Kelly found that religious scientists were higher than non-religious scientists in both self-rated creativity and in magical thinking, indicating greater acceptance of unconventional views of reality. Transliminality might be a factor in why parapsychologists persist in investigating paranormal phenomena in spite of the weight of evidence against psi. Alcock (1987) has criticised parapsychology as being incompatible with modern science because of its “anything goes, anything is possible” attitude. No speculation seems too wild for psi researchers. There seems to be no constraints on how psi is supposed to operate – it can work forwards or backwards in time, across thousands of miles of distance, or even between animals and objects. Psi operates like wishful thinking and no skill or knowledge is needed to make it work. Therefore, parapsychology might be attractive to people who are naturally prone to transliminality themselves. As noted in part 1, at least some parapsychologists believe that an experimenter’s attitudes to psi can have a paranormal effect on their participants’ results (the “experimenter effect”). This is an outright appeal to magical thinking to explain inconsistencies in research findings. Kennedy (2005) has argued that psi is difficult to replicate because of its ‘capricious’ and uncontrollable nature. This hardly seems indistinguishable from saying that psi only occurs when God or some higher power decides so. From an empirical perspective, a phenomenon that cannot be predicted or replicated lies beyond the realms of science.  

Some people have argued that although science has been successful in giving us greater control over our environment, it cannot provide a sense of meaning and purpose in life that has been traditionally provided through religion and spirituality (Kennedy, 2005). Although not all parapsychologists see psi as an indicator of a nonmaterial dimension of reality, spiritual motives do seem to be important for many of these investigators. This would seem to present a problem. A person seeking purpose, meaning in life and self-transcendence is hardly likely to find much help from parapsychology. Recent failed attempts to replicate Bem’s findings on precognition reflect a broader and repeated failure of the field to demonstrate the existence of psi, let alone that mind exists independently of the brain. Over a hundred years ago Frederic Myers argued that the duty of psychical researchers was “the expansion of science herself.” However, parapsychology seems to be incompatible with what is generally considered science and seems more akin to a fruitless form of mysticism. Sam Harris has argued that people can experience self-transcendence without necessarily believing in a non-material dimension of reality. This is an area that could be investigated empirically. Scientific research grounded in evidence is far more likely to produce insights into the nature of the relationship between consciousness and reality than the magical “anything goes” approach of parapsychology.    

Follow me on Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter.

© Scott McGreal. Please do not reproduce without permission. Brief excerpts may be quoted as long as a link to the original article is provided.  

This article also appears on Psychology Today on my blog Unique - Like Everybody Else.

References

Akers, C. (1987). Parapsychology is science, but its findings are inconclusive. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 10(4), 566-568.

Alcock, J. E. (1987). Parapsychology: Science of the anomalous or search for the soul? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 10 (4), 263-291 DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X00054467

Kennedy, J. E. (2005). Personality and motivation to believe, misbelieve, and disbelieve in paranormal phenomena. Journal of Parapsychology, 69(2), 263-291.

MacPherson, J. S., & Kelly, S. W. (2011). Creativity and positive schizotypy influence the conflict between science and religion. Personality and Individual Differences, 50 (4) DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.11.002

Thalbourne, M. A., & Storm, L. (2012). Has the Sheep-Goat Variable Had Its Day? Testing Transliminality as a Psi Predictor. Australian Journal of Parapsychology, 12(1), 69-80.