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Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment.

Katie Anderson, Patrick Elf Orcid Logo, Amy Isham Orcid Logo

International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume: 133, Start page: 104571

Swansea University Author: Amy Isham Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104571

Abstract

Despite the surge of interest in psychedelic research in the past decade, largely due to the promise of psychedelics for improving mental health outcomes, there has been comparatively little discussion about the social and environmental consequences of psychedelic drug use. While there is growing ev...

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Published in: International Journal of Drug Policy
ISSN: 0955-3959
Published: Elsevier BV 2024
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69205
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spelling 2025-04-30T12:34:11.7752381 v2 69205 2025-04-01 Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment. 5fce1ddf9df54207881ee2541a8e0074 0000-0001-6089-709X Amy Isham Amy Isham true false 2025-04-01 PSYS Despite the surge of interest in psychedelic research in the past decade, largely due to the promise of psychedelics for improving mental health outcomes, there has been comparatively little discussion about the social and environmental consequences of psychedelic drug use. While there is growing evidence to suggest psychedelics could foster a greater connection to the natural world and improve social relationships, such positive repercussions are far from guaranteed. In this commentary, we focus on LSD, psilocybin and especially MDMA, and outline three insights we came to see as crucial to creating beneficial outcomes: 1) the importance of setting and rituals, 2) the establishment of boundaries, and 3) understanding the long-term commitment required. These insights are grounded in the history of psychedelics, which is intimately intertwined with ritualised use, yet the process of commercialisation of these substances threatens to strip away important contextual factors. Creating boundaries around when, how and with whom psychedelics are used have been found to protect recreational users from harm and could also be instrumental in steering commercial interests to align with socio-environmental goals. Finally, far from being a ‘quick fix’ for social or environmental problems, the use of psychedelics requires sustained engagement to integrate the insights obtained. Whereas we remain optimistic about the transformative potential of psychedelics for social relationships and the environment, we also emphasise the need for a more cautious, considered approach if we are to harness the benefits and minimise the challenges of psychedelic drug use. Journal Article International Journal of Drug Policy 133 104571 Elsevier BV 0955-3959 MDMA; LSD; Psilocybin; Psychedelics; Setting; Rituals 1 11 2024 2024-11-01 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104571 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee This work was supported by an Institute of Social Science Research scholarship from London Southbank University. 2025-04-30T12:34:11.7752381 2025-04-01T17:58:41.2881944 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Katie Anderson 1 Patrick Elf 0000-0001-7420-4434 2 Amy Isham 0000-0001-6089-709X 3 69205__34141__315c4940d9bd45f99933d6b2d92d6552.pdf 69205.VoR.pdf 2025-04-30T12:32:04.6758476 Output 551450 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2024 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment.
spellingShingle Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment.
Amy Isham
title_short Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment.
title_full Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment.
title_fullStr Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment.
title_full_unstemmed Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment.
title_sort Psychedelics as a tool for a more connected and sustainable world? Considering the importance of rituals, boundaries, and commitment.
author_id_str_mv 5fce1ddf9df54207881ee2541a8e0074
author_id_fullname_str_mv 5fce1ddf9df54207881ee2541a8e0074_***_Amy Isham
author Amy Isham
author2 Katie Anderson
Patrick Elf
Amy Isham
format Journal article
container_title International Journal of Drug Policy
container_volume 133
container_start_page 104571
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
issn 0955-3959
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104571
publisher Elsevier BV
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
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description Despite the surge of interest in psychedelic research in the past decade, largely due to the promise of psychedelics for improving mental health outcomes, there has been comparatively little discussion about the social and environmental consequences of psychedelic drug use. While there is growing evidence to suggest psychedelics could foster a greater connection to the natural world and improve social relationships, such positive repercussions are far from guaranteed. In this commentary, we focus on LSD, psilocybin and especially MDMA, and outline three insights we came to see as crucial to creating beneficial outcomes: 1) the importance of setting and rituals, 2) the establishment of boundaries, and 3) understanding the long-term commitment required. These insights are grounded in the history of psychedelics, which is intimately intertwined with ritualised use, yet the process of commercialisation of these substances threatens to strip away important contextual factors. Creating boundaries around when, how and with whom psychedelics are used have been found to protect recreational users from harm and could also be instrumental in steering commercial interests to align with socio-environmental goals. Finally, far from being a ‘quick fix’ for social or environmental problems, the use of psychedelics requires sustained engagement to integrate the insights obtained. Whereas we remain optimistic about the transformative potential of psychedelics for social relationships and the environment, we also emphasise the need for a more cautious, considered approach if we are to harness the benefits and minimise the challenges of psychedelic drug use.
published_date 2024-11-01T07:35:49Z
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