In a recent study published in Scientific Reports, researchers explored the link between past psychedelic use, metaphysical beliefs, and well-being. The findings suggest that people who have used psychedelics tend to adopt metaphysical idealism—a belief that consciousness is fundamental to reality. This belief was associated with greater psychological well-being. Interestingly, other metaphysical beliefs, including other non-physicalist views, did not show a similar relationship.
Psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin (found in certain mushrooms), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), have long been known to induce profound changes in perception, cognition, and even spiritual experiences. These experiences often lead individuals to question fundamental aspects of reality. Previous research has shown that such experiences can result in long-term psychological benefits, such as increased well-being and reductions in anxiety and depression. However, the specific mechanisms driving these changes remain unclear.
One theory posits that shifts in metaphysical beliefs—how people view the nature of reality—might play a key role in these long-term benefits. In particular, the researchers wanted to investigate whether psychedelic experiences lead to a shift toward non-physicalist metaphysical beliefs, such as idealism (the idea that consciousness is fundamental to reality) or panpsychism (the belief that consciousness exists in all things), and whether these beliefs are linked to well-being.
“It is a common assumption that psychedelics can facilitate spiritual-type awakenings or insights about the nature of reality, which could alleviate suffering,” said study author Jussi Jylkkä, a senior researcher at Åbo Akademi University. “For example, consider a person with a materialistic-nihilistic worldview, who holds that everything is ultimately dead matter without purpose or value. If that person starts to believe that the nature of reality is, for example, loving consciousness, it is intuitive that it could lead to better psychological wellbeing.”
“We wanted to know exactly what type of metaphysical ideas, or conceptions of the nature of reality, are associated with psychedelics use, and whether they are linked with wellbeing. I think that the Western approach to psychological wellbeing often ignores spiritual and existential aspects.”
The study involved 701 participants, all of whom had at least one previous experience with classical psychedelics, including substances like psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, or DMT. Participants were recruited through an online platform, and the researchers administered a series of questionnaires to assess their past psychedelic use, their current metaphysical beliefs, and their levels of psychological well-being.
The first step of the study involved assessing participants’ metaphysical beliefs. The researchers used a newly developed tool called the Core Metaphysical Beliefs (CMB) questionnaire, which consisted of 42 statements about the nature of reality. These statements reflected different metaphysical positions, including idealism, materialism, and other non-physicalist views such as dualism and panpsychism. The researchers also included other established metaphysical belief measures for comparison.
To measure psychological well-being, the researchers administered two well-being scales. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) was used to capture overall well-being, including emotional and functional aspects of mental health, while the Peace of Mind Scale (PoMS) was used to assess a sense of inner peace and harmony.
The researchers also asked participants to reflect on the nature of their most meaningful psychedelic experience. They used the Mystical Experience Questionnaire to assess the depth of participants’ mystical-type experiences, which often include a sense of oneness with the universe, feelings of profound insight, and the perception of reality as sacred. Participants were also asked to reflect on the psychological insights they experienced during their psychedelic experience using the Psychological Insight Questionnaire. These insights can range from recognizing maladaptive behavioral patterns to gaining a clearer sense of personal goals or understanding emotional issues.
The researchers found that participants who had used psychedelics more frequently were more likely to endorse metaphysical idealism, the belief that consciousness is the fundamental nature of reality. This shift in beliefs was not observed with other metaphysical positions, such as materialism (the belief that reality is purely physical) or dualism (the idea that mind and matter are separate entities).
Most importantly, the researchers found that idealism mediated the relationship between past psychedelic use and well-being. In other words, people who had used psychedelics in the past were more likely to endorse idealism, which, in turn, predicted their higher well-being.
“Based on our results, psychedelic experiences could facilitate the idealistic belief that some type of loving consciousness is the fundamental nature of reality,” Jylkkä told PsyPost. “Endorsement of this idea was also linked with better psychological wellbeing. The results are in line with the hypothesis that psychedelics could alleviate suffering through spiritual-type transformations. However, it is important to notice that the effects were not strong, and that there are several other factors besides worldview changes that are also important, such as increases in mindfulness capacity or psychological flexibility.”
Interestingly, while idealism played a significant role in linking psychedelic use to well-being, other metaphysical beliefs, such as materialism, were not associated with well-being. This suggests that not all metaphysical shifts have the same impact on mental health. The results also showed that psychological insights were associated with a greater endorsement of idealism. In fact, psychological insight was more strongly linked to idealism than mystical-type experiences (such as feelings of unity with the universe or sacredness).
“It was surprising that it was psychological insight experienced during the psychedelic experience, instead of its mystical-type features, that was linked with idealistic worldview,” Jylkkä said. “We expected that the mystical-type features would be more important, given their spiritual connotations.”
But as with all research, there are some caveats to note. First, the study was cross-sectional, meaning it relied on participants’ self-reported data about their past experiences and current beliefs. This makes it difficult to establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship.
“This was a retrospective study, meaning that the participants were asked about their past psychedelic experiences, and current worldview,” Jylkkä noted. “Thus, we cannot draw conclusions about causality: does psychedelics use lead to idealistic worldview, or could it be that people with an idealistic worldview are more likely to use psychedelics? We will address this in a forthcoming longitudinal study, which can show if there’s a causal link.”
In addition, while the study found a strong link between idealism and well-being, it remains unclear why this particular belief system might lead to improved mental health. Is it the comforting notion that consciousness is fundamental to reality? Or is it the sense of connection and meaning that idealism offers? Further research is needed to unpack the specific aspects of idealism that might be driving these effects.
“I wish to explore through a longitudinal or experimental setup whether psychedelics really cause people to believe in idealism, and how important that is for their wellbeing. I’m also interested in what idealism or other spiritual-type beliefs mean for lay people, how they conceive of it, and how they think that psychedelic experience justifies that belief,” Jylkkä told PsyPost.
“While it’s an empirical question what people believe, it’s a philosophical question to determine whether the belief is true and justified. Many scientists and philosophers think that mystical-type beliefs are ‘woo’ because they are not scientific, but I don’t think it’s so simple (I discuss this question in another recent article). When it comes to philosophical or metaphysical questions, science reaches its limits, and philosophy has its place. It would be naturalistic chauvinism to claim that science can answer all questions.”
The study suggests that spiritual transformations may help sustain the long-term effects of psychedelic experiences, but they are not the only path to psychological benefits. The researchers noted that psychedelics can lead to a broad range of experiences, both positive and negative, and emphasized the importance of responsible use to minimize potential risks.
“Although spiritual transformations could be a central element in some people’s psychedelic experiences, many people don’t experience them,” Jylkkä said. “Psychedelics can facilitate an extremely wide range of different types of experiences, including negative ones, and spiritual experiences are only one type. There are many aspects of psychedelics besides the mystical or spiritual. In many cases, psychedelic transformations are similar to those one might experience in psychotherapy, completely ‘secular.’ And it is important to remember that psychedelics don’t only facilitate positive experiences, their irresponsible use can be risky.”
The study, “Endorsement of metaphysical idealism mediates a link between past use of psychedelics and wellbeing,” was authored by Jussi Jylkkä, Andreas Krabbe, and Patrick Jern.
