A new study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers compared psychedelic experiences with near-death experiences that were not drug-related, finding notable similarities in people’s attitudes toward death.
Survey participants in two groups – those who had a psychedelic experience and those who had a non-drug-related near death experience -reported having less fear of death and dying after the experience.
They also reported that the experience had a lasting positive effect, providing personal meaning, spiritual significance and psychological insight.
The researchers highlight that results from the survey, published in the journal PLOS ONE, are consistent with several recent clinical trials showing that a single treatment with the psychedelic psilocybin produced sustained decreases in anxiety and depression among patients with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis.
The largest of these trials, Griffiths et al., 2016, was conducted at Johns Hopkins Medicine by the authors of this survey. The randomised trial of 51 patients with cancer who had clinically significant anxiety or depressive symptoms, demonstrated that receiving a controlled, high dose of psilocybin given with supportive psychotherapy resulted in significant increases in ratings of death acceptance, as well as decreases in anxiety about death.
In the current study, the researchers analysed data gathered from 3,192 people who answered an online survey between December 2015 and April 2018.
Participants were divided into groups: 933 individuals had non-drug-related near-death experiences, and the rest of the participants had psychedelic experiences, which were prompted by either LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca or DMT.
Participants were predominantly white (85 per cent) and mostly from the United States. Compared with the non-drug group, there were more men in the psychedelic group (78 per cent versus 32 per cent), and they tended to be younger (32 versus 55 years of age) at the time of the experience.
About 90 per cent of participants in both groups reported a decrease in fear of death when considering changes in their views from before to after the experience.
Most participants in both groups (non-drug group, 85 per cent; psychedelics group, 75 per cent) rated the experience to be among the top five most personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their life.
Participants in both groups reported moderate to strong persisting positive changes in personal well-being and life purpose and meaning.
Differences between the groups include that the non-drug group was more likely to report that their life was in danger (47 per cent versus the psychedelics group, 3 per cent), being medically unconscious (36 her cent versus the psychedelics group, 10 per cent), or being clinically dead (21 per cent versus the psychedelics group, less than 1 per cent).
The non-drug group was more likely to report that their experience was very brief, lasting five minutes or less (40 per cent versus the psychedelics group, 7 per cent).
The researchers say that future studies are needed to better understand the potential clinical use of psychedelics in ameliorating suffering related to fear of death.
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