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Cited by 476Psychedelics and Drug StudiesSmoking Behavior and CessationSubstance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Psilocybin-Occasioned mystical experiences in the treatment of tobacco addiction.

Open access
Garcia-Romeu, Albert, Griffiths, Roland, Johnson, Matthew·2015·Current Drug Abuse Reviews
DOI 10.2174/1874473708666150107121331PMC PMC4342293
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Abstract

Psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences have been linked to persisting effects in healthy volunteers including positive changes in behavior, attitudes, and values, and increases in the personality domain of openness. In an open-label pilot-study of psilocybin-facilitated smoking addiction treatment, 15 smokers received 2 or 3 doses of psilocybin in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for smoking cessation. Twelve of 15 participants (80%) demonstrated biologically verified smoking abstinence at 6-month follow-up. Participants who were abstinent at 6 months (n=12) were compared to participants still smoking at 6 months (n=3) on measures of subjective effects of psilocybin. Abstainers scored significantly higher on a measure of psilocybin-occasioned mystical experience. No significant differences in general intensity of drug effects were found between groups, suggesting that mystical-type subjective effects, rather than overall intensity of drug effects, were responsible for smoking cessation. Nine of 15 participants (60%) met criteria for "complete" mystical experience. Smoking cessation outcomes were significantly correlated with measures of mystical experience on session days, as well as retrospective ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance of psilocybin sessions. These results suggest a mediating role of mystical experience in psychedelic-facilitated addiction treatment.

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  • Many patients describe psychedelic-induced peak or mystical experiences as being among the most meaningful events of their lives, and the intensity of these events correlates with therapeutic responses.

    “Many patients describe psychedelic-induced “peak” or “mystical” experiences as being among the most meaningful events of their lives, and the intensity of these events correlates with therapeutic responses (40, 220–226).”

    From Psychedelics and Other Psychoplastogens for Treating Mental Illness. (2021) · cites this paper as [222]

    The Discussion (page not available) reports that mystical-type qualities and ratings of personal meaning correlated with smoking-cessation outcomes at six months. It also explicitly says that general intensity of the psilocybin experiences was not significantly associated with those outcomes. The Measures section records ratings of personal meaning, but the passages found do not establish that many participants ranked the experiences among the most meaningful events of their lives. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Psychedelic-induced mystical-type experiences and ego dissolution correlate with long-term positive outcomes.

    “it has been repeatedly found that psychedelic-induced mystical-type experiences and ego dissolution, the latter a phenomenon characterized by the reduction in self-referential awareness, disruption self-world boundaries, and increased feelings of unity with one’s surroundings (55), correlates with long-term (positive) outcomes (23, 52–54, 56–58).”

    From Decreases in State and Trait Anxiety Post-psilocybin: A Naturalistic, Observational Study Among Retreat Attendees (2022) · cites this paper as [58]

    The Discussion reports that mystical-type qualities of psilocybin experiences were significantly correlated with smoking-cessation outcomes at six months. The Measures section describes unity and loss of self–environment boundaries as features of mystical experience, but the paper does not report a separate correlation between ego dissolution and long-term outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [43]DiClemente CC Prochaska JO Shiffman S Wills TA Processes and stages of change: Coping and competence in smoking behavior change Coping and Substance Abuse 1985 319 343 Academic Press New York, NY
  2. [52]Richards WA Counseling, peak experiences and the human encounter with death: an empirical study of the efficacy of DPT-assisted counseling in enhancing the quality of life of persons with terminal cancer and their closest family members [dissertation] 1975 Catholic University of America Washington, DC
  3. [58]James W The varieties of religious experience 1902 Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA

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Authors
Garcia-Romeu, A., Griffiths, R., & Johnson, M.
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Current Drug Abuse Reviews
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Published
2015-02-20
Volume
7
Issue
3
Pages
157-164
ISSN
1874-4737 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2174/1874473708666150107121331
PMC
PMC4342293
OpenAlex
W2140013897
Cited by
476
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 36 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 68 · 2023: 61 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 57 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 6
FWCI
27.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Current Drug Abuse Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA003889, T32DA007209)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
Keywords
psilocybin, mystical experience, smoking cessation, tobacco dependence, cognitive behavioral therapy, smoking abstinence, personal meaning, spiritual meaning, psychedelic therapy
MeSH terms
Smoking Prevention, Adult, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Hallucinogens, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pilot Projects, Psilocybin, Smoking, Tobacco Use Disorder, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Smoking Cessation

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