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Cited by 417Psychedelics and Drug StudiesParanormal Experiences and BeliefsReligion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Predicting responses to psychedelics: a prospective study

Open access
Haijen, Eline C. H. M., Kaelen, Mendel, Roseman, Leor, Timmermann, Christopher, Kettner, Hannes, Russ, Suzanne, Nutt, David, Daws, Richard E. +3 more·2018·Frontiers in Pharmacology
DOI 10.3389/fphar.2018.00897PMC PMC6225734
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Abstract

Responses to psychedelics are notoriously difficult to predict, yet significant work is currently underway to assess their therapeutic potential and the level of interest in psychedelics among the general public appears to be increasing. We aimed to collect prospective data in order to improve our ability to predict acute- and longer-term responses to psychedelics. Individuals who planned to take a psychedelic through their own initiative participated in an online survey (www.psychedelicsurvey.com). Traits and variables relating to set, setting and the acute psychedelic experience were measured at five different time points before and after the experience. Principle component and regression methods were used to analyse the data. Sample sizes for the five time points included N= 654, N= 535, N= 379, N= 315, and N= 212 respectively. Psychological well-being was increased two weeks after a psychedelic experience and remained at this level after four weeks. This increase was larger for individuals who scored higher for a ‘mystical-type experience’, and smaller for those who scored higher for ‘challenging experience’. Having ‘clear intentions’ for the experience was conducive to mystical-type experiences. Having a positive ‘set’, as well as having the experience with intentions related to ‘recreation’, were both found to decrease the likelihood of having a challenging experience. The trait ‘absorption’ and higher drug doses promoted both mystical-type and challenging experiences. When comparing different types of variables, traits variables seemed to explain most variance in the change in well-being after a psychedelic experience. These results confirm the importance of extra-pharmacological factors in determining responses to a psychedelic. We view this study as an early step towards the development of empirical guidelines that can evolve and improve iteratively with the ultimate purpose of guiding crucial clinical decisions about whether, when, where and how to dose with a psychedelic, thus helping to reduce risks while maximising potential benefits in an evidence-based manner.

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  • Differences in set and setting have been extensively shown to greatly influence the acute psychedelic experience.

    “Differences in set and setting, which involve factors such as opportunity for preparation, guidance and integration by a trained guide, have been extensively shown to greatly influence the acute psychedelic experience (136, 137).”

    From Examining the Potential Synergistic Effects Between Mindfulness Training and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (2021) · cites this paper as [137]

    In the Discussion section on set, setting, and drug dose (page unavailable), the authors report that set and setting predicted aspects of the acute experience. But they call this a “long-held (but little tested) assumption,” which does not support “extensively shown.” The same section says that being in a therapeutic environment did not appear to influence the experience in a particular way; it does not establish an effect of guidance or integration by a trained guide. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Beyond the pharmacological effects of the drug itself, two extra-pharmacological factors must be taken into account in addressing the total effect of classical psychedelics: set and setting.

    “Beyond the pharmacological effects of the drug itself, two extra-pharmacological factors must be taken into account in addressing the total effect of the classical psychedelics: that is, the so-called set and setting (Haijen et al., 2018; Hartogsohn, 2016).”

    From Assessment of the acute subjective psychedelic experience: A review of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical research on classical psychedelics (2024) · cites this paper as Haijen et al., 2018

  • Relaxation may also reflect feelings of comfort and safety with the setting, which has been associated with more positive effects on well-being in previous studies.

    “Relaxation may also reflect feelings of comfort and safety with the setting, which has been associated with more positive effects on well-being in previous studies (Golden et al., 2022; Haijen et al., 2018).”

    From Naturalistic psychedelic therapy: The role of relaxation and subjective drug effects in antidepressant response (2024) · cites this paper as Haijen et al., 2018

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Authors
Haijen, E. C. H. M., Kaelen, M., Roseman, L., Timmermann, C., Kettner, H., Russ, S., Nutt, D., Daws, R. E., Hampshire, A. D. G., Lorenz, R., & Carhart-Harris, R. L.
Affiliations
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • Dickinson State University (US)
Corresponding author
Haijen, Eline C. H. M.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Pharmacology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2018-11-02
Volume
9
Pages
897-897
ISSN
1663-9812 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fphar.2018.00897
PMC
PMC6225734
OpenAlex
W2894846833
Cited by
417
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 42 · 2025: 80 · 2024: 79 · 2023: 71 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 1
FWCI
24.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Pharmacology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (1974864, EP/J021199/1)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
Keywords
psychedelics, set and setting, mystical experience, challenging experiences, psychological well-being, absorption, drug dosing, user intention, recreational use, long-term outcomes

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