Naturalistic Use of Mescaline Is Associated with Self-Reported Psychiatric Improvements and Enduring Positive Life Changes
Open accessAbstract
Abstract Mescaline is a naturally occurring psychoactive alkaloid that has been used as a sacrament by Indigenous populations in spiritual ritual and healing ceremonies for millennia. Despite promising early preliminary research and favorable anecdotal reports, there is limited research investigating mescaline’s psychotherapeutic potential. We administered an anonymous online questionnaire to adults (N = 452) reporting use of mescaline in naturalistic settings about mental health benefits attributed to mescaline. We assessed respondents’ self-reported improvements in depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and alcohol and drug use disorders (AUD and DUD). Of the respondents reporting histories of these clinical conditions, most (68–86%) reported subjective improvement following their most memorable mescaline experience. Respondents who reported an improvement in their psychiatric conditions reported significantly higher ratings of acute psychological factors including mystical-type, psychological insight, and ego dissolution effects compared to those who did not report improvements (Cohen’s d range 0.7 – 1.5). Many respondents (35–50%) rated the mescaline experience as the single or top five most spiritually significant or meaningful experience(s) of their lives. Acute experiences of psychological insight during their mescaline experience were associated with increased odds of reporting improvement in depression, anxiety, AUD and DUD. Additional research is needed to corroborate these preliminary findings and to rigorously examine the efficacy of mescaline for psychiatric treatment in controlled, longitudinal clinical trials.
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The findings suggest a potential positive association between mescaline use and alleviation of various mental health symptoms.
“The findings of this study suggest a potential positive association between mescaline use and the alleviation of various mental health symptoms”
From A Narrative Review of Current and Emerging Trends in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [81]
In a 2021 international survey of 452 participants, self-reported mescaline use in non-clinical settings was associated with significant improvements in depression (86.0%), anxiety (80.0%), PTSD (76.0%), and AUD (76.0%).
“A 2021 international survey involving 452 participants explored the impact of mescaline use in non-clinical settings on mental health. Self-reports revealed significant improvements in depression (86.0%), anxiety (80.0%), post-traumatic stress disorder (76.0%) and AUD (76.0%).”
From A Narrative Review of Current and Emerging Trends in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [81]
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- Authors
- Agin-Liebes, G., Haas, T. F., Lancelotta, R., Uthaug, M. V., Ramaekers, J. G., & Davis, A. K.
- Affiliations
- San Francisco General Hospital (US)
- University of Southern California (US)
- Habituating to Wholeness, LLC , 6500 W 13th Ave, , ,
- Maastricht University (NL)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Agin-Liebes, Gabrielle
- Davis, Alan K.
- Venue
- ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2021-03-23
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 543-552
- ISSN
- 2575-9108 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8033766
- OpenAlex
- W3137839889
- Cited by
- 124
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 15.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32DAA00725, T32DA007250)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Alkaloids: synthesis and pharmacology
- Keywords
- mescaline, psychedelics, naturalistic psychedelic use, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, drug use disorders, mystical experience, psychological insight, ego dissolution, spiritual experience
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