A new research article sheds light on the apparent connection between psychedelic drug use and creativity, helping to reinforce anecdotal associations between entheogenic substances and creative inspiration.
Findings from a survey of 326 participants, published in the journal PLOS One this month, indicate that people who use psychedelics showed a higher “sense of connectedness,” had higher creative potential and engaged in more creative activities than non-users.
The results, authors wrote, “strengthen the role of connectedness (to the self) as a potential psychological reason why psychedelics might enhance creativity.”
“This cross-sectional online survey showed that people who use psychedelic drugs feel more connected (to the self, others, and the world),” the study says. “They produced more creative ideas (in terms of originality and fluency), and they showed a trend for more creative activities (but not creative achievements).”
“Consequently, psychedelic drug users not only have a higher creative potential,” they continued, “but they also behave differently in their daily lives. They seem to play music more often and are more frequently engaged in working on open-ended scientific and engineering problems.”
“These findings provide evidence for the association between self-reported psychedelic drug use and creativity.”
Participants—187 adult psychedelics users and 139 adult non-users—completed an task meant to measure aspects of creativity and also provided responses to a questionnaire. Participants who had used a classic psychedelic at least once were considered “users” for the purpose of the study, though they were also asked to estimate how many times overall they’d used the substances as well as the dosage of their “last particularly relevant psychedelic experience.”
Among users, most (69 percent) used psychedelics between once and 20 times in their lives. Nine in 10 (90 percent) had positive experiences, and most (51 percent) had what researchers called “a medium trip” and were intentional about their use (65 percent). More than a third stayed indoors (36 percent) while the next most common setting was in nature (30 percent).
Psychedelics users rated their “sense of connectedness” significantly higher than did non-users, the survey found, adding that those “who reported a higher number of psychedelic experiences also rated their connectedness as higher.”
“As hypothesized, we found a significant difference between psychedelic users and non-users with respect to originality and fluency,” wrote the two-author research team, from the University of Graz, in Austria. “Psychedelic users produced more original ideas and showed a higher fluency of ideas compared to non-users.”
“People who use psychedelic drugs feel more connected (to the self, others, and the world)” and “produced more creative ideas (in terms of originality and fluency).”
The study also found that psychedelics users were generally older, had higher degrees of education and were likelier to consume more drugs, both within the past three months and over their lifetime. They were also generally more likely to be unemployed and had more psychiatric diagnoses.
Authors further said some risks and “maladaptive effects” associated with psychedelics could in part be attributed to increased creativity.
“While psychedelic drugs carry the potential for maladaptive effects, such as increased acute fear, heightened anxiety during use, and the risk of psychotic episodes, these effects may partly arise from the heightened creativity that allows the mind to imagine threats and dangers from novel perspectives.”
Psychedelic drug users didn’t differ in all respects from non-users, the study says. For example, it found that overall well-being and life satisfaction scores were roughly the same between the two groups.
Authors of the study didn’t explore attributes such as openness and curiosity. “Since both personality traits are linked with creativity and psychedelic drug use,” they noted, “these traits might serve as alternative explanations why psychedelic users are more creative than non-users.”
As for other possible influences from psychedelic drug use, a separate report last year from researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that—contrary to some earlier evidence—a single psilocybin experience isn’t likely to make an atheist believe in God or dispel someone’s sense of free will. It might, however, inspire the belief that animals, plants or even objects like rocks and robots have some sort of consciousness.
While participants in that study reported small differences in certain perceptions of consciousness after the psychedelic experiences—being more likely to attribute consciousness to primates or insects, for example—their religious and metaphysical beliefs didn’t significantly change.
Research published earlier this year in PLOS One, meanwhile, found that among adults who regularly meditate, nearly 3 in 4 felt that psychedelic use had a positive impact on the quality of their meditation.
Authors found respondents were more likely to report positive effects of psychedelics if they used the substances more regularly, actively set intentions around their psychedelic use, had agreeable personalities and had previously consumed DMT specifically, among other factors.
A separate study released in 2023 found that people who practiced yoga after consuming marijuana experienced heightened mindfulness and mysticality, indicating that setting and behavior also played an important role in modulating a person’s experience.
The study’s results “generally indicate that what you do while you experience cannabis effects matters,” that paper concluded. “Mirroring psychedelics, this study supports the concept that set and setting during cannabis use may significantly impact the therapeutic benefit of the drug.”
Another study, published last year, found that people who’d used multiple different formulations of psilocybin—including whole mushrooms, mycological extract and a lab-synthesized version—typically preferred whole mushrooms, which they describe as not only more effective but also “more alive and vibrant.”
Another study from last year, which explored the role of psilocybin mushrooms in the evolution of human consciousness, said the psychedelic has the “potential to trigger significant neurological and psychological effects” that could have influenced the development of our species over time.
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