Death Anxiety Among Users and Non-Users of Psychedelics

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Sociology

Background:

• Death anxiety is a significant concern impacting psychological well-being.
• The role of psychedelic substances in modulating perceptions of mortality is an emerging area of research.
• Understanding factors that influence death anxiety is crucial for mental health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between psychedelic use and death anxiety.
• To assess the psychometric properties of the Death Anxiety Scale in a Brazilian population.
• To explore the mediating role of death transcendence in the context of psychedelic use and death anxiety.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional survey study with 517 participants in Brazil.
• Online data collection from April to June 2022.
• Utilized questionnaires for sociodemographics, Death Anxiety Scale, Death Transcendence Scale, and Spiritual Well-Being Scale.

Main Results:

• Lower psychedelic use was associated with higher death anxiety.
• Death transcendence, particularly creative and religious aspects, consistently explained variations in death anxiety.
• A negative correlation was observed between death anxiety and mystical/religious dimensions of death transcendence.

Conclusions:

• Psychedelics may facilitate death transcendence, rather than directly reducing death anxiety.
• The capacity to experience continuity beyond death, in spiritual or symbolic forms, appears to be the primary mechanism for reducing death anxiety.
• Findings suggest that interventions focusing on fostering a sense of transcendence may be effective in managing death anxiety.