Psychedelic drugs and near-death experiences can reduce the fear of death, a new study has found.
Previous research on psychedelic drugs suggests the substances can alter people's perceptions of death, such as by reducing their fear of dying. Near-death and other extraordinary incidents not involving drugs - such as an out-of-body experience - have similarly been linked to altered attitudes towards death, however, few studies have directly compared these two types of experiences.
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs, the primary effect of which is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness. This causes specific psychological, visual and auditory changes, and often a substantially altered state of consciousness.
To find new insights, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland, US decided to compare how people's attitudes about death may change after taking psychedelic drugs versus having a non-drug-related, near-death experience or similar event. The team found strong similarities between the two, as well as some differences.
To conduct their study, the team of researchers surveyed almost 3200 people whose perceptions of death were altered following the use of psychedelic drugs or after suffering a near-death experience.
Each of the 3192 participants had reported changes to their beliefs about death after having a non-drug-related near-death experience, a similarly extraordinary non-drug-related event (such as an out-of-body experience), or using a psychedelic drug such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, ayahuasca, or N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT).
The study showed that 90 percent of participants in the two groups - the psychedelic group and the non-drug group - found the changes in their feelings towards death both positive and desirable.
The researchers found those who suffered a near-death or similarly extraordinary experience were more likely to rate the experience as the single most meaningful event of their lives when compared with all drug-users, except for those who consumed the recreational psychedelic drug DMT.
Comparisons between the ongoing effects of different psychedelic substances found those who took ayahuasca or DMT generally reported more positive and enduring changes in their attitudes towards death, compared to those who consumed LSD or psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms).
Statistical comparison of the results between the psychedelic group (2259) and the non-drug group (933) revealed strong similarities in alterations to the participant's attitudes on death, including a decreased fear of death.
Most participants in both groups also rated their experience highly in terms of how meaningful and spiritually significant they felt it was. However, those with non-drug experiences were more likely to feel it was the single most meaningful experience they had ever had.
The authors noted that further studies could help confirm the results by including more participants from different demographic backgrounds and by more precisely distinguishing between different 'non-drug experiences', such as near-death versus out-of-body.
The research could help inform investigations into the clinical use of psychedelics in treatment for mood disorders and other psychiatric conditions, such as end-of-life anxiety, they added.
Lead author Roland Griffiths, a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, added: "Not only can the features of psychedelic experiences be similar to near-death experiences, but both are rated as among the most meaningful lifetime experiences.
"Both produce similar enduring decreases in fear of death and increases in well-being."
The findings, 'Comparison of psychedelic and near-death or other non-ordinary experiences in changing attitudes about death and dying', were published in the peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal PLOS ONE this week.
