Psychedelics In Groups? First Study Of Its Kind Shows Potential For Collective Settings – Forbes

A recent study has shown that the social dimension of psychedelic ceremonies, such as the one shown ... [+] above in an episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, led to increased psychological well-being and social connectedness in participants.

While the corporate fanfare around psychedelics continues to grow, the reality is the majority of these drugs remain illegal in most countries around the world, with few exceptions for legal access. Of course, this hasnt stopped humans from using themand one of our favourite ways to trip, is collectively.

There has been no data to quantify the potential value to the individual stemming from the collective dimension of group psychedelic experiences, until now: a recently published study has shown that consuming psychedelics in a group setting like a ceremony or retreat could lead to increases in wellbeing, social connectedness and other improvements to mental health.

The first-of-its kind study was conducted by a team of researchers at Imperial College London and led by doctoral student Hannes Kettner. The quantitative look at real-world psychedelic use recruited a total of 886 participants, who were simply required to have a plan to participate in a ceremony or guided group experience involving the use of a psychedelic, such as ayahuasca or psilocybin, of their own accord.

Participants were then asked to complete a series of online surveys: one two weeks prior to their psychedelic experience, another a few hours beforehand, a third on the day after their ceremony, a fourth on the following day, and a fifth four weeks later.

Kettner admits that in most self-selected psychedelic research, a significant sampling bias exists (particularly toward participants who are male students in their mid-20s, with plenty of existing psychedelic experience). He was pleasantly surprised to see that in this new study, a whopping 40 percent were actually signing up as first-time psychedelic users, with an average age of 44 years.

It speaks to the Michael Pollan-ation effect, he says. We see more and more people from a different social demographic becoming interested in psychedelics, but not necessarily wanting to access them on their own, he says.

According to Kettner, the team of researchers (including Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and Dr. Leor Roseman) were able to introduce and validate a modified measure used to assess experiences of perceived togetherness and shared humanity, referred to as the communitas scale.

Kettner explained that while in clinical one-on-one settings, the relationship between guide and patient is quite defined, the group setting can potentially act as an equalizer.

The interesting thing about this communitas construct is that we observed this dissolution of hierarchies and boundaries and social roles, which you wouldnt expect to see when theres a predefined relationship between doctor and patient, or guide and journeyer, he says.

Importantly, this experience of communitas during psychedelic sessions emerged as a significant predictor of long-term improvements in well-being and mental health outcomes several weeks later, pointing towards a therapeutic potential unique to group settings of psychedelic use.

The results of the study show that the impact of a more social setting doesnt just have benefits during the psychedelic experience itself: it can also lead to benefits that last well beyond the journey.

Prior to their psychedelic ceremony, participants were asked how comfortable they felt with the guides that would be present.

This was among the strongest predictors of how the experience actually played out for people, says Kettner, noting that he expects this to act as a similarly strong predictor in clinical settings.

While its difficult to make a direct comparison between individual and group settings based on the existing science, Kettner points to the results of a similar Imperial College study which was not limited to groups or ceremonies to illustrate the potential differences.

There, we saw pretty solid improvements in psychological well-being and also in social connectedness, which speaks to the notion that even in an individual experience, if there is some kind of improvement to your outlook on life, perhaps that also reflects on how you relate to others, he says.

While he admits you dont necessarily need the group for that to happen, the effects sizes in their latest study on group experiences were much larger.

That seems to hint that an element of the group setting really makes a difference in terms of what people get out of it, says Kettner.

That element could be the social component of sharing your experiences with others, as participants in psychedelic ceremonies are often encouraged to do prior to and immediately following a journey.

Being vulnerable towards a group of often strangers really made a difference in terms of increasing how much people improved in the long run, he adds.

Through their collected data, but also on-site observation of ceremonies and qualitative accounts from participants, Kettner believes that the experience of opening up to others could have as much value to participants as the psychedelic itself, both elements positively reinforcing each other.

Group settings, he says, offer an opportunity for all the materials that may be brought to the surface by the psychedelic compound to be processed by an entire group of people that support you.

In principle, I think thats a brilliant approach to how psychedelics could, in the long run, be worked into medical systems.

Psychedelic ceremonies of any kind are not without risk, something Kettner acknowledges. He says given current conditions, ceremonies do remain among the most accessible settings for psychedelic use, even though some retreats come with a very high price tagsomething else he readily acknowledges.

These two factors, risk and cost, are closely related, and as the interest in psychedelics increases without a legal way to consume them, this relationship will be an important one to watch.

As the market grows, well likely see an undercutting of prices and people reducing the amount of supervision and safety that they can provide, and the amount of experience that that they require from guides and facilitators, he says. I do think that is a lot of reason for caution.

At the same time, Kettner says taking psychedelics in an institutionalized setting has its own set of risks. Rather than pitting the two settings against each other, there ought to be room for both.

There is a strong need for creating solutions that are not prohibitive, [things that are] outside of the clinical and medicalized systems, he says.

How can we safeguard and improve the way that people are taking psychedelics right now, in the settings that are available?

If access really is the goal, this is an important question more researchers in the psychedelic community need to ask themselves.

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Psychedelics In Groups? First Study Of Its Kind Shows Potential For Collective Settings - Forbes