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Perspectives & Attitudes on the Therapeutic Use 1 UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK IN PRAGUE Department of Psychology A European Cross-Cultural Survey: Perspectives & Attitudes on the Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics Supervised by: Submitted by: Simon Weissenberger Audrey Locussol Prague, 2020 2 Declaration I hereby declare that I wrote this thesis individually, based on the background and research stated in the References section at the end of this paper, according to the APA guidelines. In Prague: May 15th, 2020 Signature: Audrey Locussol 3 Acknowledgements I will primarily thank my Supervisor for his time and energy spent rereading and editing my drafts, as well as acknowledge the support of UNYP in such a significant work. Furthermore, I would like to thank my family, and especially my partner, for their tremendous emotional support as well as their faith, during this intense process. I also want to thank all of those who answered and shared the questionnaire on social media without whom this experiment would not have been possible. 4 Abstract Researchers around the world are currently uniting around an ancestral family of substances observing promising findings in the field of mental health as well as in pain management. Single doses of psychedelics such psilocybin and LSD have shown significant promising findings in the treatment of anxiety and depression in chronic illnesses; as well as in substance addictions. Classic psychedelics have also shown their efficiency in the treatment of anxiety disorders and current trials worldwide are testing MDMA-facilitated treatments for PTSD, whereas ketamine is already being legalized in the USA for severe depression. Considering the rise of these techniques across the European continent, this cross-cultural survey examines and compares European perceptions, among samples for the general population of two international hubs that are Paris and Prague and their respective periphery, on the rising therapeutic uses of psychedelics and related matters. Findings showed significant mean differences between the two countries of residency regarding their perceptions on the therapeutic use of psychedelics scale (PTUP). Moreover, sociodemographic grouping variables such as life setting for the French sample and work setting or level of academic education for the Czech sample, observed significant mean differences concerning their attitudes towards the therapeutic use of psychedelics (PTUP scale). Further analysis observed that attitudes were also significantly different across countries concerning the adverse effects of psychedelics on one’s health, including their addictive effects. Both samples tend to agree that psychedelics should be tested for their medicinal value and that the government should fund this research field. This survey provides a baseline for further systematic research across Europe and beyond. Keywords European attitudes, Cross-cultural survey, Psychedelic research, Psychedelic-based treatments, Mental health, Pain management. 5 Table of contents Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….... 9-10 Chapter I – Literature Review ……………………………………………………….. 11-51 1. Definitions ………………………………………………………………….. 11-22 a. Classic Psychedelics i. Psilocybin & Fungi ii. LSA & LSD iii. DMT & Ayahuasca iv. Mescaline & Peyote b. Other Psychedelics i. Ketamine ii. MDMA 2. Background …………………………………………………………………. 22-26 a. The Start of Psychedelic Research in Flower Power b. The First Psychedelic therapeutic models c. A Worldwide Expansion 3. Current Research ………………………………………………………….... 26-42 a. Post-traumatic stress disorder b. Phobias c. Obsessive Compulsive Disorders d. Anxiety & Depression in Chronic illnesses e. Depression f. Alcohol & Drug Addictions g. Tabaco Addiction h. Chronic pain i. Migraines & cluster headaches 4. Social Attitudes towards the Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics …………….. 43-51 a. Associations & Jurisdictions about Psychedelics i. North America ii. Europe b. Assessment of the populations’ perceptions on Psychedelics c. Assessed Population i. France ii. Czech Republic Chapter II – Method ……………………………………………………………..….. 52-58 1. Aim & Research question ………………………………………………….. 52 2. Hypotheses & Assumptions …………………………………………….….. 52-53 3. Subjects ………………………………………………………………….…. 53-54 4. Material ………………………………………………………………….…. 54-56 a. The Questionnaire 6 b. Perceptions on the Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics scale (PTUP) 5. Procedure …………………………………………………………………... 56-57 6. Statistics ……………………………………………………………………. 57-58 Chapter III – Results ………………………………………………………………….. 59-75 1. Descriptive Analysis of the PTUP scale ……………………………………. 59 2. Country of residency Distribution & Interaction on the PTUP scale ………. 59-60 3. Gender Distribution & Interaction on the PTUP scale ……………………... 61-62 4. Age Distribution & Interaction on the PTUP scale ………………………… 62-65 5. Life setting Distribution & Interaction on the PTUP scale ………………… 65-66 6. Work setting Distribution & Interaction on the PTUP scale ……………….. 66-68 7. Professional field Distribution & Interaction on the PTUP scale …………... 68-71 8. Academic Education Distribution & Interaction on the PTUP scale ……….. 71-74 9. Reliability of the questionnaire ……………………………………………… 74 Chapter IV – Discussions ……………………………………………………………… 75-91 1. General Findings ……………………………………………………………. 75-82 a. Question 1 b. Question 2 c. Question 3 d. Question 4 e. Question 5 f. Question 6a g. Question 6b h. Question 7 i. Question 8 j. Question 9 k. Question 10 l. Question 11 m. Question 12 n. Question 13 2. Hypotheses Evaluation …..………………………………………………….. 82-87 a. Country of residency b. Gender c. Age d. Life setting e. Work setting f. Academic education g. Professional field 3. Limitations ………………………………………………………………….. 87-90 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………… 90-92 References 7 Appendices: Appendix 1: Recruiting publication Appendix 2: Consent Form Appendix 3: Questionnaire Appendix 4: Descriptive statistics & Interaction Tables of Samples on the PTUP scale Appendix 5: Descriptive statistics & Interaction Tables of the Gender on the PTUP scale Appendix 6: Descriptive statistics of the Age before grouping Appendix 7: Descriptive statistics & Interaction Tables of Age groups on the PTUP scale Appendix 8: Correlation Table of the age and the TUP scale Appendix 9: Descriptive statistics & Interaction Tables of the Life setting on the PTUP scale Appendix 10: Descriptive statistics & Interaction Tables of the Work setting on the PTUP scale Appendix 11: Descriptive statistics & Interaction Tables of Professional field groups on the PTUP scale Appendix 12: Descriptive statistics & Interaction Tables of levels of Academic Education on the PTUP scale Appendix 13: Correlation Table of the academic education level and the TUP scale 8 List of Figures & Tables: - Figure 1: Distribution of the PTUP scale - Figure 2: Distribution of the PTUP scale by country of residency - Figure 3: Distribution of the PTUP scale by gender split by country of residency - Figure 4: Distribution of the PTUP scale by age group for the French sample - Figure 5: Distribution of the PTUP scale by age group for the Czech sample - Figure 6: Distribution of the PTUP scale by life setting split by country of residency - Figure 7: Distribution of the PTUP scale by work setting split by country of residency - Figure 8: Distribution of the PTUP Scale by Professional field for the French Sample - Figure 9: Distribution of the PTUP Scale by Professional field for the Czech Sample - Figure 10: Distribution of the PTUP Scale by level of academic education split by country of residency - Table 1: Reliability of the edited Questionnaire 9 Introduction After a short scientific and clinical assessment together with a high popular consumption of psychedelic drugs during the 1950’s and 1960’s, psychedelic substances were prohibited since the 1970’s or 1980’s (Ali & Ginsberg, 2019). However, they are now reemerging in mental health research for their evident therapeutic properties and promising clinical trials have been conducted for the past 20 years and are still conducted (MAPS, 2020b; Tupper et al, 2015; Carhart-Harris & Goodwin, 2017). Psychedelics are progressively being legalized or depanelized in Europe as well as in America (McAllister, 2020; MAPS, 2020c). Wisdom and awareness have become a social matter and people feel concerned about their well- being and related factors (Taylor, 1996). Thus, parallelly to research witnessing significant advances in assessment of psychedelic’s therapeutic use, individuals are thriving to find new alternative therapeutic techniques and access to information is enhanced by social media as well as the actual worldwide pandemic situation (MAPS, 2020d). Thus, individuals are progressively constructing their own perceptions and views on universal matters such as health. Health fields such as metal health, are experiencing tremendous advances these past decades, especially thanks to technological progress (MAPS, 2020b; MAPS, 2020c; Tupper et al, 2015; Carhart-Harris & Goodwin, 2017). General populations are now acknowledging the idea that there is science and knowledge besides western societies’ medicinal methods. (Tupper et al., 2015; Carhart-Harris & Goodwin, 2017). Therefore, it seems of important matter to assess the general populations’ reactions towards the rising therapeutic uses of psychedelic and related matters, that will eventually affect the entire world and its current perspectives on mental health and pain management. Thus, we aim to compare European samples on the perceptions of psychedelic treatments. Assessing European samples (Paris,
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