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Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique

Contemporary research on serotonergic psychedelic compounds has been rife with references to so-called ‘mystical’ subjective effects. Several psychometric assessments have been used to assess such effects, and clinical studies have found quantitative associations between ‘mystical experiences’ and p...

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Autores principales: Mosurinjohn, Sharday, Roseman, Leor, Girn, Manesh
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10171200/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37181886
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1077311
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author Mosurinjohn, Sharday
Roseman, Leor
Girn, Manesh
author_facet Mosurinjohn, Sharday
Roseman, Leor
Girn, Manesh
author_sort Mosurinjohn, Sharday
collection PubMed
description Contemporary research on serotonergic psychedelic compounds has been rife with references to so-called ‘mystical’ subjective effects. Several psychometric assessments have been used to assess such effects, and clinical studies have found quantitative associations between ‘mystical experiences’ and positive mental health outcomes. The nascent study of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences, however, has only minimally intersected with relevant contemporary scholarship from disciplines within the social sciences and humanities, such as religious studies and anthropology. Viewed from the perspective of these disciplines—which feature rich historical and cultural literatures on mysticism, religion, and related topics—‘mysticism’ as used in psychedelic research is fraught with limitations and intrinsic biases that are seldom acknowledged. Most notably, existing operationalizations of mystical experiences in psychedelic science fail to historicize the concept and therefore fail to acknowledge its perennialist and specifically Christian bias. Here, we trace the historical genesis of the mystical in psychedelic research in order to illuminate such biases, and also offer suggestions toward more nuanced and culturally-sensitive operationalizations of this phenomenon. In addition, we argue for the value of, and outline, complementary ‘non-mystical’ approaches to understanding putative mystical-type phenomena that may help facilitate empirical investigation and create linkages to existing neuro-psychological constructs. It is our hope that the present paper helps build interdisciplinary bridges that motivate fruitful paths toward stronger theoretical and empirical approaches in the study of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences.
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spelling pubmed-101712002023-05-11 Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique Mosurinjohn, Sharday Roseman, Leor Girn, Manesh Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Contemporary research on serotonergic psychedelic compounds has been rife with references to so-called ‘mystical’ subjective effects. Several psychometric assessments have been used to assess such effects, and clinical studies have found quantitative associations between ‘mystical experiences’ and positive mental health outcomes. The nascent study of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences, however, has only minimally intersected with relevant contemporary scholarship from disciplines within the social sciences and humanities, such as religious studies and anthropology. Viewed from the perspective of these disciplines—which feature rich historical and cultural literatures on mysticism, religion, and related topics—‘mysticism’ as used in psychedelic research is fraught with limitations and intrinsic biases that are seldom acknowledged. Most notably, existing operationalizations of mystical experiences in psychedelic science fail to historicize the concept and therefore fail to acknowledge its perennialist and specifically Christian bias. Here, we trace the historical genesis of the mystical in psychedelic research in order to illuminate such biases, and also offer suggestions toward more nuanced and culturally-sensitive operationalizations of this phenomenon. In addition, we argue for the value of, and outline, complementary ‘non-mystical’ approaches to understanding putative mystical-type phenomena that may help facilitate empirical investigation and create linkages to existing neuro-psychological constructs. It is our hope that the present paper helps build interdisciplinary bridges that motivate fruitful paths toward stronger theoretical and empirical approaches in the study of psychedelic-induced mystical experiences. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-04-05 /pmc/articles/PMC10171200/ /pubmed/37181886 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1077311 Text en Copyright © 2023 Mosurinjohn, Roseman and Girn. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Mosurinjohn, Sharday
Roseman, Leor
Girn, Manesh
Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique
title Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique
title_full Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique
title_fullStr Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique
title_full_unstemmed Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique
title_short Psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: An interdisciplinary discussion and critique
title_sort psychedelic-induced mystical experiences: an interdisciplinary discussion and critique
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10171200/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37181886
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1077311
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