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Thought provoking piece by @eddietalksdrugs on #psychedelic therapy ethics! As one of the creators of much of the referenced science, I have a perspective on the topic that is not shared by all psychedelic researchers... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-if-a-pill-can-change-your-politics-or-religious-beliefs/">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/w...
One is that such effects e.g. increasing belief in God, have been overstated, even by researchers. I’ve seen hundreds of #psilocybin sessions & people come out basically where they started. Our "God" survey was not a population study but a targeted, perhaps very extreme, group.
A few have a little more openness of possibilities but nothing dramatic. The authoritarianism and nature relatedness changes were razor thin effects, a small fraction of a scale on average & only at a subset of time-points. Totally swamped by effect size for depression.
And this was from a non-randomized open label study. Folks who enter psychedelic studies seem broadly ready for change. Also, authoritarianism is by no means exclusive to conservative leaning politics, e.g., the authoritarian left such as Leninism & Maoism.
Whatever your opinion on it, even in modern democracies people who identify as “left” don’t have a monopoly on liberalism (tolerance), e.g., allowing speakers with opposing political views the right to speak. So I don’t see any convincing evidence for any ...
... substantial change in political affiliation. Finally, I suspect the increase in openness, which his more of a solid effect, is not unique to psychedelics in therapy. I suspect it is not uncommon in intensive psychotherapy ...
which in many ways is more closely related to psychedelic therapy compared to typical psychiatric medications. And the increase in openness is also likely caused by many broadening life experiences.
