Can MDMA Change Sociopolitical Values? Insights From a Research Participant

Wit, Harriet de; Bershad, Anya K.; Hutchison, W. M.; Bremmer, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.01.016

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…In conclusion, the present findings indicate that LSD enhances empathy, which is likely also beneficial for therapeutic application in patients. Psychedelics and MDMA have been shown to potentially trigger therapeutic processes and marked changes in personal attitudes and well-being after single-dose administration and with often lasting effects even in healthy subjects ( Griffiths et al, 2008 ; Schmid and Liechti, 2018 ; de Wit et al, 2021b ). These sometimes long-lasting effects are at least partially associated with alterations of mind and mystical-type experiences ( Griffiths et al, 2008 ; Schmid and Liechti, 2018 ) and may also be linked to the acute experience of feeling strong emotional concern for others (i.e., emotional empathy) and a connection with other people ( de Wit et al, 2021b ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Psychedelics and MDMA have been shown to potentially trigger therapeutic processes and marked changes in personal attitudes and well-being after single-dose administration and with often lasting effects even in healthy subjects ( Griffiths et al, 2008 ; Schmid and Liechti, 2018 ; de Wit et al, 2021b ). These sometimes long-lasting effects are at least partially associated with alterations of mind and mystical-type experiences ( Griffiths et al, 2008 ; Schmid and Liechti, 2018 ) and may also be linked to the acute experience of feeling strong emotional concern for others (i.e., emotional empathy) and a connection with other people ( de Wit et al, 2021b ). Remaining to be investigated is whether LSD also enhances empathy in patients with deficits in empathy and impairments in social functioning and whether such effects contribute to potential therapeutic effects of LSD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Role of the 5-HT2A Receptor in Acute Effects of LSD on Empathy and Circulating Oxytocin

et al. 2021

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The psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has experienced a revival in research, including clinical trials that evaluate LSD-assisted psychotherapy. LSD induces perceptual alterations and influences emotion processing in ways that may support psychotherapy. Here, we investigated the effects of LSD on emotional empathy and mediating role of the serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine-2A (5-HT2A) receptor by administering 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg LSD alone and 200 µg LSD combined with pretreatment with the 5-HT2A receptor antagonist ketanserin (40 mg) using a placebo-controlled, double-blind, random-order, crossover design in 16 healthy subjects. The Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) was used to assess the effects of LSD on emotional empathy. Plasma oxytocin levels were also measured. LSD dose-dependently increased implicit and explicit emotional empathy, with the highest 200 µg LSD dose having a significant effect compared with placebo. The 200 µg dose of LSD also moderately increased plasma oxytocin levels compared with placebo. Ketanserin reduced the LSD-induced elevations of oxytocin but not the LSD-induced increases in emotional empathy. These findings confirm that LSD enhances empathy, and this effect may be partially independent of its primary action on 5-HT2A receptors to induce subjective psychedelic effects. In contrast, LSD-induced oxytocin release may depend on 5-HT2A receptor stimulation, which is consistent with the psychedelic effect of LSD. Further studies are needed to investigate whether LSD may also enhance empathy and potentially produce therapeutic effects in patients who have deficits in empathy and impairments in social functioning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of the 5-HT2A Receptor in Acute Effects of LSD on Empathy and Circulating Oxytocin

et al. 2021

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“…Shortly after, Lyons and Carhart-Harris ( 2018 ) addressed authoritarianism as an adjunct to an open-label psilocybin-assisted treatment-resistant depression therapy experiment, but with a much smaller sample size ( n = 14), concluding that the seven participants who had psilocybin therapy reported lower authoritarian beliefs than before treatment or compared to the non-psilocybin control group. Results from these two studies constitute the only peer-reviewed evidence for the psychedelic experience predicting more liberal and less authoritarian values (see also the recent n = 1 observational correspondence by de Wit et al, 2021 ). Based on the dramatic clinical effects of psychedelics on openness and the putative reduction in authoritarianism, the media have constructed and proliferated an argument—at times, encouraged by researchers—that psychedelic therapy will lead to a more progressive, inclusive society (Gearin and Devenot, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Right-Wing Psychedelia: Case Studies in Cultural Plasticity and Political Pluripotency

Pace

Devenot

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Recent media advocacy for the nascent psychedelic medicine industry has emphasized the potential for psychedelics to improve society, pointing to research studies that have linked psychedelics to increased environmental concern and liberal politics. However, research supporting the hypothesis that psychedelics induce a shift in political beliefs must address the many historical and contemporary cases of psychedelic users who remained authoritarian in their views after taking psychedelics or became radicalized after extensive experience with them. We propose that the common anecdotal accounts of psychedelics precipitating radical shifts in political or religious beliefs result from the contextual factors of set and setting, and have no particular directional basis on the axes of conservatism-liberalism or authoritarianism-egalitarianism. Instead, we argue that any experience which challenges a person's fundamental worldview—including a psychedelic experience—can precipitate shifts in any direction of political belief. We suggest that the historical record supports the concept of psychedelics as “politically pluripotent,” non-specific amplifiers of the political set and setting. Contrary to recent assertions, we show that conservative, hierarchy-based ideologies are able to assimilate psychedelic experiences of interconnection, as expressed by thought leaders like Jordan Peterson, corporadelic actors, and members of several neo-Nazi organizations.

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“…Multiple survey studies have also suggested that psychedelics could impact religious, metaphysical and political beliefs as well as personality (Nour et al, 2017;Watts et al, 2017;Garcia-Romeu et al, 2015;de Wit et al, 2021;Timmermann et al, 2021). Psychedelic experiences have been shown to bring about a significant and persistent increase in trait openness (MacLean et al, 2011;Carhart-Harris et al, 2016b; yet see also Schmid & Liechti, 2018;Griffiths et al, 2017).…”

Section: Consequences Of Insightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restructuring insight: An integrative review of insight in problem-solving, meditation, psychotherapy, delusions and psychedelics

Tulver¹,

Kaup²,

Laukkonen³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Occasionally a solution arrives as a sudden understanding - an insight. Insight has been considered as an “extra” ingredient of creative thinking and problem-solving. Here we propose that insight is a central process in seemingly distinct areas of research. Drawing on literature from a variety of fields, we show that besides being a common topic in problem-solving literature, insight is also a core component in psychotherapy, essential for some forms of meditation, a key process underlying the emergence of primary delusions in schizophrenia, and a factor that drives the positive outcomes of psychedelic therapy. Our goal is to bridge these different views and research traditions. In each case, we discuss the prerequisites and consequences of insight. We examine evidence for common prerequisites of insight experiences, comprising a tension within knowledge structures and a plastic state of mind. We discuss a framework for explaining insight across these fields and highlight the clinical relevance of studying insight. This integrative review provides a better understanding of insight, a central feature of our minds.

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Can MDMA Change Sociopolitical Values? Insights From a Research Participant

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Role of the 5-HT2A Receptor in Acute Effects of LSD on Empathy and Circulating Oxytocin

Role of the 5-HT2A Receptor in Acute Effects of LSD on Empathy and Circulating Oxytocin

Right-Wing Psychedelia: Case Studies in Cultural Plasticity and Political Pluripotency

Restructuring insight: An integrative review of insight in problem-solving, meditation, psychotherapy, delusions and psychedelics

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