Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences : immediate and persisting dose-related effects

Roland R. Griffiths, Matthew W. Johnson, William A. Richards, Brian D. Richards, Una McCann, Robert Jesse

Psychopharmacology, 2011

DOI 10.1007/s00213-011-2358-5

 

Abstract

Rationale : This dose-effect study extends previous observations showing that psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having persisting positive effects on attitudes, mood, and behavior.

Objectives : This double-blind study evaluated psilocybin (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 mg/70 kg, p.o.) administered under supportive conditions.

Methods : Participants were 18 adults (17 hallucinogennaïve). Five 8-h sessions were conducted individually for each participant at 1-month intervals. Participants were randomized to receive the four active doses in either ascending or descending order (nine participants each). Placebo was scheduled quasi-randomly. During sessions, volunteers used eyeshades and were instructed to direct their attention inward. Volunteers completed questionnaires assessing effects immediately after and 1 month after each
session, and at 14 months follow-up.

Results : Psilocybin produced acute perceptual and subjective effects including, at 20 and/or 30 mg/70 kg, extreme anxiety/fear (39% of volunteers) and/or mystical-type experience (72% of volunteers). One month after sessions at the two highest doses, volunteers rated the psilocybin experience as having substantial personal and spiritual significance, and attributed to the experience sustained positive changes in attitudes, mood, and behavior, with the ascending dose sequence showing greater positive effects. At 14 months, ratings were undiminished and were consistent with changes rated by community observers. Both the acute and persisting effects of psilocybin were generally a monotonically increasing function of dose, with the lowest dose showing significant effects.

Conclusions : Under supportive conditions, 20 and 30 mg/ 70 kg psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences having persisting positive effects on attitudes, mood, and behavior. Implications for therapeutic trials are discussed.

Keywords : Psilocybin . Dose effects . Hallucinogen . Entheogen . Psychedelic . Mystical experience . Fear . Spiritual . Religion . Positive psychology. Humans

 

Introduction

Psilocybin, which is the principal psychoactive component of Psilocybe and other genera of mushrooms, has likely been used for millennia within some cultures in structured manners for divinatory or religious purposes (Wasson 1980; Stamets 1996; Metzner 2004; Guzmán 2008). Like other classic hallucinogens [d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)], the effects of psilocybin are primarily mediated at 5-HT2A receptor sites (Glennon et al. 1984; Nichols 2004), and the acute subjective effects include robust changes in perception, cognition, affect, volition, and somesthesia (Isbell 1959; Wolbach et al. 1962; Rosenberg et al. 1964). In early clinical research with psilocybin, the affective character of subjective experiences often varied from positive to negative, and highly valued personal or mystical-type experiences were rare (e.g., Isbell 1959; Malitz et al. 1960; Rinkel et al. 1960; Hollister 1961). Subsequent research that generally used higher psilocybin doses and provided more preparation and interpersonal support reported a higher rate of affectively positive experiences, sometimes of a mystical nature, that were rated as being of personal significance (Leary et al. 1963; Metzner et al. 1965; Pahnke 1969).

Recently, we used rigorous double-blind methods to evaluate the acute (7 h) and longer-term (2 months and 14 months) psychological effects of a high dose of psilocybin (30 mg/70 kg) relative to an active comparison compound (40 mg/70 kg methylphenidate) in 36 hallucinogen-naïve volunteers (Griffiths et al. 2006, 2008). The study was designed to optimize the potential for positively valued experiences by providing 8 h of preparation, administering psilocybin in a pleasant, supportive setting, and instructing volunteers to focus explicitly on their subjective or inner experience rather than, for example, perform tasks. The results showed that psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences and, sometimes, significant fear. The mystical-type experiences were rated as having substantial and persisting personal meaning and spiritual significance to which volunteers attributed sustained positive changes in attitudes, moods, and behavior. The present study was undertaken using similar procedures to characterize the acute and persisting effects of a range of lower doses of psilocybin (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 mg/70 kg). The study was also designed to compare the ascending and descending sequences of drug dose exposure.

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