Self-dissolution from psilocybin, meditation may improve mental health

Mindfulness meditation supplemented with psilocybin may produce synergistic effects and potentially counteract symptoms of several mental disorders, including depression, according to findings published in Scientific Reports.

“Our findings shed light on the interplay between pharmacological and extra-pharmacological factors in psychedelic states of mind,” Franz X. Vollenweider, MD, co-director of the Center for Psychiatric Research in the department of psychiatry at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, said in a press release. “They indicate that mindfulness training enhances the positive effects of a single dose of psilocybin and can increase empathy and permanently reduce ego-centricity.”

Vollenweider and colleagues noted that both meditation and psychedelic use may result in “self-dissolution effect,” and meditation specifically has been found to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression as well as promote lasting prosocial behavior and benevolent emotions in clinical and nonclinical populations. Prior to the present study, the potential synergistic effects of psychedelic- and meditation-induced temporary alterations to the sense of self were yet to be systematically investigated in a prospective study, according to the researchers.

To determine overlapping effects, they administered double-blind either a single dose of psilocybin or a placebo to 39 meditators on the fourth day of a 5-day mindfulness group retreat. Using psychometric and neurocognitive measurements including a mindfulness scale and a meditation depth questionnaire, the researchers found that psilocybin “increased meditation depth and incidence of positively experienced self-dissolution along the perception-hallucination continuum, without concomitant anxiety,” the researchers wrote. Further, they noted that optimism, emotional reappraisal and openness predicted acute response. At a 4-month follow-up, psilocybin was found to have enhanced post-intervention mindfulness and produced larger positive changes in psychosocial functioning compared with placebo.

Overall, the researchers suggested that meditation may enhance psilocybin’s positive effects while counteracting potential dysphoric responses.

“This opens up new therapeutic avenues, for example for the treatment of depression, which is often accompanied by increased self-focus and social deficits,” Vollenweider said. – by Joe Gramigna

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.