Naturalistic use of mescaline has been associated with self-reported psychiatric improvement and lasting positive life changes

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsptsci.1c00018

Commentary

This study investigated the benefits of using mescaline, which has been used as a sacrament by indigenous peoples in spiritual and healing ceremonies for thousands of years, in psychotherapy.

Mescaline is also a naturally occurring psychotropic alkaloid. The study was conducted among adults and included an anonymous online questionnaire. (N= 452)

It assessed and analyzed respondents' self-reported improvements in depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and alcohol and drug use disorders (AUD and DUD) in the form of reported use of mescaline in a naturalistic setting for mental health benefits attributed to mescaline.

Results showed that of the respondents who reported a history of these clinical conditions, most (68-86%) reported subjective improvement following their most memorable mescaline experience. Respondents who reported improvement were found to have significantly higher ratings of psychological factors such as mystical type, psychological insight, and ego dissolving effects than those who did not. And these respondents (35-50%) rated the mescaline experience as the most spiritually important or meaningful experience in their lives. Acute experiences of psychological insight during the mescaline experience were associated with an increased probability of reporting improvements in depression, anxiety, AUD, and DUD.

However, additional research is needed to corroborate these results and rigorously investigate their efficacy in psychiatric treatment in long-term clinical trials.