Researchers are starting to take a closer look at the relationship between psychedelic use and spiritual well-being. A new study, published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, highlights differences in spiritual well-being between psychedelic users and non-users while also highlighting the need for more inclusive tools to assess spirituality.
The study was motivated by a growing recognition of the importance of spiritual well-being in overall quality of life, particularly in palliative care settings. Traditionally, economic and physical health indicators have been the primary focus in assessing an individual’s well-being. However, recent research has highlighted the need for more nuanced tools that also consider the spiritual dimension of life.
“I’m a palliative care nurse and professor. I carry out research mainly in the area of palliative care and, within this theme, I also work with the topics of spirituality and the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in serious illnesses,” said study author Ana ClĆ”udia Mesquita Garcia, a professor at the Federal University of Alfenas, leader of the Interdisciplinary Center for Studies in Palliative Care, and member of the Interdisciplinary Cooperation for Ayahuasca Research and Outreach (ICARO).
“Specifically with regard to the research that led to this article, the main objective was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale in Brazil (i.e. to check whether this scale is a good instrument for measuring spiritual well-being among the Brazilian population). In addition, considering that the target audience of the study were both users and non-users of psychedelics, we also wanted to check whether there was a difference between the spiritual well-being of these groups.”
“I have a personal and professional interest in the subject of spirituality in health. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that spirituality is an important part of a person’s quality of life, especially for those facing stressful and challenging situations, such as serious illness. In the context of psychedelics, the history of the use of these substances among human beings is deeply linked to the spiritual context, even today.”
The study was conducted as an online cross-sectional survey over a period from April to June 2022. Participants, adults of varying genders and health statuses, were recruited primarily through messaging applications and social media platforms. The researchers reached a substantial number of valid respondents, totaling 517 individuals.
Each participant was asked to complete an initial questionnaire that collected information on their age, gender, level of education, professional profile, spirituality, religiosity, and psychedelic substance use.
The core of the study revolved around the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, consisting of 20 statements split into two subscales: religious well-being and existential well-being. These statements were designed to capture the participants’ spiritual state using a Likert-type scale ranging from total agreement to total disagreement. Some examples include “I believe that God loves me and cares about me” and “I feel good about my future.”
The researchers found that older individuals generally exhibited higher existential well-being. Gender differences were also prominent, with women scoring significantly higher in both religious and existential well-being compared to men. Intriguingly, individuals with lower education levels presented higher scores in these well-being dimensions. Furthermore, those who frequently engaged in discussions about death and finitude reported higher existential well-being.
A particularly intriguing aspect of the study was its exploration of psychedelic use. Participants who had never used psychedelics tended to have better religious and existential well-being. However, those who used psychedelics frequently showed better well-being than those who used them infrequently or almost never.
This finding suggests a complex relationship between psychedelic use and spiritual health. But the researchers caution against drawing definitive conclusions about the impact of psychedelics on spiritual well-being. The study’s reliance on an instrument developed based on a Judeo-Christian conception of religious well-being might not fully resonate with non-religious respondents.
“Spirituality is basically about the need we have, as human beings, for transcendence and the search for meaning and purpose in life, as well as a relationship with ourselves, with others, with nature and with a being or something greater than ourselves. It is something important in people’s lives, even for those who don’t profess any religion,” Mesquita Garcia told PsyPost.
“However, studying spirituality is complex. Depending on what we want to investigate about spirituality, it’s important to have instruments to measure it. For example, when I want to measure the length of something, the appropriate instrument to use is a tape measure or ruler. To study spirituality, we also need to identify the right tools.”
“According to our study, we realized that the way of experiencing spirituality between users and non-users of psychedelics is different,” Mesquita Garcia explained. “We realized that the instrument used in the study, the spiritual well-being scale, despite having good psychometric properties (i.e. the results relating to the evaluation of the scale were considered reliable and valid — the scale really does seem to measure what it sets out to measure), may not be the best choice for evaluating spirituality among people who do not profess a religion, especially those from a Judeo-Christian background – considering that the spiritual well-being scale is partly based on the Judeo-Christian conception of the evaluation of religious well-being.”
“In our study, we found that a significant proportion of the sample (46.8%), despite not having any religion, considered themselves to be spiritual. Of those who said they practiced a religion, most professed a religion outside the Judeo-Christian spectrum (e.g. Buddhism, Afro-descendant religions). Therefore, future studies that aim to assess spirituality in samples similar to ours should consider using instruments that assess spirituality in a more comprehensive way, including the religious aspect.”
The study, “Spiritual Well-Being Among Users and Non-Users of Psychedelics: A Cross-Sectional Study“, was authored by Ana ClĆ”udia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia, Everson Meireles, Denismar Alves Nogueira, and LuĆs Fernando TĆ³foli.
