Psilocybin-Occasioned Mystical Experiences in the Treatment of Tobacco Addiction

Abstract

Psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences have been linked to persisting effects in healthy volunteers including positive changes in behavior, attitudes, and values, and increases in the personality domain of openness. In an open-label pilot-study of psilocybin-facilitated smoking addiction treatment, 15 smokers received 2 or 3 doses of psilocybin in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for smoking cessation. Twelve of 15 participants (80%) demonstrated biologically verified smoking abstinence at 6-month follow-up. Participants who were abstinent at 6 months (n=12) were compared to participants still smoking at 6 months (n=3) on measures of subjective effects of psilocybin. Abstainers scored significantly higher on a measure of psilocybinoccasioned mystical experience. No significant differences in general intensity of drug effects were found between groups, suggesting that mystical-type subjective effects, rather than overall intensity of drug effects, were responsible for smoking cessation. Nine of 15 participants (60%) met criteria for "complete" mystical experience. Smoking cessation outcomes were significantly correlated with measures of mystical experience on session days, as well as retrospective ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance of psilocybin sessions. These results suggest a mediating role of mystical experience in psychedelic-facilitated addiction treatment.

Classic hallucinogens in the treatment of addictions

“…Aside from these acute psychologically challenging experiences which were well managed, no clinically significant adverse events occurred during the study. Moreover, consistent with previous findings showing an important role of the nature of subjective experience occasioned by psilocybin, smoking cessation outcomes were significantly correlated with measures of mystical experience during sessions, and retrospective ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance of psilocybin sessions (Garcia-Romeu et al, 2015).…”

“…However, past studies of addiction treatment with classic hallucinogens have not assessed participants' experiences quantitatively or investigated the mediational role of dimensions of the experience. As noted above, recent pilot work with psilocybin for cigarette addiction demonstrated that strong mystical-type experiences were associated with greater improvement (Garcia-Romeu et al, 2015). On the other hand, in the recent pilot study of psilocybin for alcohol dependence, both mystical experience and broader measures of the intensity of subjective effects were associated with improvement in drinking (Bogenschutz et al, 2015).…”

“…In PTSD, an overwhelming psychological trauma can cause persisting harmful changes in brain structure and function, as well as sometimes permanent psychological change. It has therefore been proposed that mystical experiences occasioned by classic hallucinogens constitute inverse-PTSD-like effects (Garcia-Romeu et al, 2015). "PTSD-like" refers to the lasting behavioral effects of discrete experiences.…”

LSD enhances the emotional response to music

“…Thus, the enhancement of these emotions suggests that the music×LSD combination may contribute to the occurrence of spiritual-type or peak experiences. If spiritual-type experiences are predictive of therapeutic/beneficial effects of psychedelics MacLean et al 2011;Garcia-Romeu et al 2014), and if the likelihood of their occurrence can be increased by music, then this would substantiate the view that music is an important element in psychedelic-assisted therapy.…”

Psychedelic medicine: a re-emerging therapeutic paradigm

“…7 Smoking cessation outcomes were significantly correlated with a measure of mystical experience on session days, as well as retrospective ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance of psilocybin sessions. 24 The same research team is currently designing a follow-up randomized controlled study to compare a similar psilocybin intervention with nicotine-replacement therapy.…”