Transpersonal Ecodelia: Surveying Psychedelically Induced Biophilia

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This article offers a useful literature review and framework establishing some of the lineage and relevance for the ecodelic phenomenon recorded so richly by survey particpants. By the authors  own account, the data gathered from the open text boxes is subject to selection bias entailed by attending a conference on psychedelics, but the qualitative research offers a rich treasure trove of testimony to different themes recording and reporting the ecodelic phenomenon. GIven the remarkable testimony of interspecies communication, unitive visions,  increased nature awareness, etc, the rationale is now strong for conducting legal research in a natural setting. There is by now over 60 years of research establishing the importance of set and setting on psychedelic experience, but this paper makes a uniquely strong case for the likely impact of a natural context for ecodelic treatments of diverse kinds. The Marsh Chapel experiment of 1962 provided the exigence for inquiry into the capacity of psilocybin to occasion mystical experience, and this paper now provides a parallel rationale for investigating specifically (though the states are not exclusive) ecodelic states in nature. The testimony alone is exciting and compelling, and the coding method robust, so this paper will likely make a big contribution to policy debates over the integration of psychedelics into society and the appropriate modalities for their delivery and study.

  While the study follows an “inductive” approach to discovering themes in the qualitative research, a follow up study that discovers those themes from the history of nature writing and mystical experience might provide a comparative context for exploring the distinctively “ecodelic” connectedness seemingly implicated in dietary and other lifestyle changes. Given the ecosystemic crisis driven by apparently inelastic models of consumption and egoic experience, this paper makes an urgently needed contribution to attempts to transform and enrich our very way of life in the wake of ecosystemic crisis and a mental health pandemic likely liked to connectedness ( or the lack thereof). A further follow up would look to model the mental health effects of these ecodelic transpersonal experiences, but that is currently beyond the focus of the study. Comparing the author's data to online repositories such as Erowid might also complete the picture, but these are all suggestions for future study.

 

A few details I wondered over:

 

Not sure about “technicoloured”, but interesting 137

Inclusion of nature “in” self or nature “is” self 160

 

Ecodelical is a great word for the study. Give lineage of word?

Author Response

 

Not sure about “technicoloured”, but interesting 137

•  Replaced with ‘and multisensorial’

Inclusion of nature “in” self or nature “is” self 160

• Changed to in

 

Ecodelical is a great word for the study. Give lineage of word?

 

Inserted:

• Doyle describes the ‘ecodelic’ insight as “the sudden and absolute conviction that the psychonaut is involved in a densely interconnected ecosystem” (p. 20). Doyle goes on to highlight the importance of transpersonal dimensions and their role in making sense of the strangeness arising from these psychedelic experiences. 

 

• Added referrence: Doyle, R. (2011). Darwin’s pharmacy: Sex, plants and the evolution of noösphere. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 

 

Reviewer 2 Report

A few previous studies have indicated psychedelic use may associate with greater connection with or appreciation of nature. How exactly psychedelic use may relate to people’s relationships with nature is a topic certainly worth exploring in more nuance, as was done in this study using qualitative methods. The manuscript overall does a good job of presenting the study and its findings. Despite the very selected sample, the findings make a real contribution to our understanding of the links between psychedelic use and relationship with nature. I have relatively minor comments and suggestions for improvement that I would like to see addressed before recommending publication.

1. “current materialistic Euro-centric worldview to form a more empathetic link with the Earth” (p. 1) – The remark about Euro-centricism here seems surprising. What does this mean? To my limited understanding, attitudes are generally less materialistic and more ecologically conscious in many parts of Europe than in other parts of the world at present? Meanwhile, several countries in East Asia, for example, currently have explicitly highly materialist political/cultural milieus.
2. Several cited works are missing from the list of references, including Pöllänen et al., 2022 and Newton & Moreton, 2022.
3. “quantitative measures cannot elucidate the underlying mechanisms by which nature connectedness develops and changes” – Surely they can to some extent? The authors point out such quantitative research on p. 2-3.
4. In Table 1, “< 1” would indicate 0, but presumably this is not meant?
5. Very little demographic background is provided. Is there any information available about education, income, country of origin, experience with psychedelics etc.? The sample appears to be a very selected one, but more demographic information would be helpful to understand the context and generalizability.
6. The descriptions of the qualitative method on pages 4-5 is somewhat long-winded and repetitive – consider condensing it.
7. The relationship of this research to Forstmann et al. (2023) should be explicitly clarified. Are the authors using the same data / data collection?
8. It is not always clear which parts of the text are quotations from participants and which are not. Block quotes, italicization, or some such method should be used to clarify this.
9. “Others framed this extra-perceptual experience” (p. 8) – Several of the example quotations here don’t seem to suggest anything extra-perceptual necessarily. Surely pattern recognition could be heightened without extra-perceptual processes?
10. Most of the identified themes clearly relate to how psychedelics have altered or are connected to nature relatedness, but subtheme 3.3.1 does not seem to involve psychedelics at all. Maybe the authors could clarify the extent to which their analysis and the identified themes are limited to the relation to psychedelics?
11. “Insight and mystical-type experiences have an individual but correlated role in the benefits to the psychedelic user (Tulver, Kaup, Laukkonen, & Aru, 2021)” – A review that looks at this specific question may be useful here - https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2023.00243.
12.  ““nonspecific amplifier of the unconscious” (Grof, 1975)” (p. – Page numbers should be provided for direct quotes from books.
13. “Given the importance and urgency of coming back into balance with our planet, it makes sense that the great Albert Hofmann came to view the potential of psychedelics in helping address our disconnection from the natural world as perhaps their most fundamental role” (p. 17) – Citation needed.

 

 

1.Some sentences need re-phrasing and/or language editing to improve flow and intelligibility, e.g. “Pro-ecological behavioural changes and well-being improvements might arise from  psychedelic use in natural settings, however, this might not be limited to this environment.”, “This concept was investigated recently and indicated that psychedelics were causally influential in the shift from hard positivism to metaphysical positions such as panpsychism (Timmerman et al., 2021) suggesting that the psychedelic experiences, for some individuals, might facilitate expansion of worldview that supports ecopsychological or animistic understanding. “

2. “Studerus et al. (2011) pooled data from eight studies where psilocybin was administered, in which similar shifts were reported in over a third of all participants, with such changes also sustained long-term (Studerus, Kometer, Hasler & Vollenweider, 2011).” – Unclear what similar shifts and such changes mean here, please rephrase more clearly.

3. In Table 1, Transgender female/male seem like surprising choices of words, which could introduce unclarity about whether this refers to sex assigned at birth or gender. I suppose the standard terms would be trans woman/man or transgender woman/man.

4. “beatific” (p. 9) – is this really meant here, i.e., expressing blissful happiness or imparting holy bliss?

5. “ingestion of organic psychedelics” (p. 14) – the term “organic” has multiple meanings, and it’s unclear which one is meant here.

Author Response

Thank you for your extensive comments the revisions have been a valuable undertaking helping to fine tune the manuscript. In the interests of practicality, the responses to the highlighted points are brief.

1. 
   “current materialistic Euro-centric worldview to form a more empathetic link with the Earth” (p. 1) – The remark about Euro-centricism here seems surprising. What does this mean? To my limited understanding, attitudes are generally less materialistic and more ecologically conscious in many parts of Europe than in other parts of the world at present? Meanwhile, several countries in East Asia, for example, currently have explicitly highly materialist political/cultural milieus.

• Amended to:  ‘current materialistic worldview’
  

   

2. Several cited works are missing from the list of references, including Pöllänen et al., 2022 and Newton & Moreton, 2022.

Updated reference list on manuscript.

 

3. “quantitative measures cannot elucidate the underlying mechanisms by which nature connectedness develops and changes” – Surely they can to some extent? The authors point out such quantitative research on p. 2-3.

• Replaced with:  ‘can only partially elucidate’ 

4. In Table 1, “< 1” would indicate 0, but presumably this is not meant?

• Replaced with percentages accurate to 1 decimal place

5. Very little demographic background is provided. Is there any information available about education, income, country of origin, experience with psychedelics etc.? The sample appears to be a very selected one, but more demographic information would be helpful to understand the context and generalizability.

Demographic data was limited to psychedelic use (other than age and gender) in order to reduce survey fatigue. As a result, additional demographic data are not available.

• Added ”To be eligible for participation, respondents must have reported use of at least one drug type listed (see Table 2 for mean values)"  - in paticipants section
• Added table detailing mean drug use of the sample.

6. The descriptions of the qualitative method on pages 4-5 is somewhat long-winded and repetitive – consider condensing it.

Condensed thus:

"Participants were served statements relating to prior drug use, ecological attitudes, the brief measure of nature relatedness (NR-6) [42] and inclusion of nature in self (INS) [43] scale. Participants were then asked to complete five open-text boxes exploring factors relating to the development of pro-ecological attitudes. 

The large number of responses and the exploratory nature of the research, an experiential [44] inductive [45] approach was taken in coding data. Independent double coding was undertaken by the first (AI) and third (FH) author in order to reduce bias [46,47].

Data were coded in an iterative method of content analysis (Stiles, 1999) where each emerging code/theme is applied in a reassessment of the complete data set. Data were analysed using 11th edition of Nvivo in a process of thematic analysis [45]. The main themes were discussed and agreed upon by authors AI and FH and subsequent lower-order themes were discussed at length. Latent superordinate themes were developed by analysis by the first author (AI) using an inductive approach to theme generation.

The process of theme generation begins with translation of the data from survey tool to analysis tool once the qualitative and quantitative data (published in [48]) were parsed (i.e., Qualtrics>SPSS>Nvivo). The quantitative data was analysed in a collaborative manuscript investigating associations between retrospective psychedelic experiences and nature relatedness [48]. The qualitative data being retained for analysis here. Nvivo software provides a useful way to decompose large chunks of data (i.e., interview data) into cases (i.e., participant data) for subsequent identification of codes (themes) and necessitates early involvement with the data. This process of familiarisation continues as the process of theme generation begins by identifying potential themes, with some inevitably becoming redundant before groupings are explored.

The purpose of this research was to explore participant experiences rather than understand the meaning behind an ecodelic experience per se, in line with this, a semantic approach was employed to examine the content present in the data. Understanding the complex content reported to occur in the psychedelic state requires some degree of interpretation and the process of theme generation cannot be said to be wholly free from researcher imposition. The interpretation of meaning within the often metaphorical and analogous language used to describe the psychedelic experience required careful attention to detail and consideration of context (e.g., previous responses and continuing narratives)." 

7. The relationship of this research to Forstmann et al. (2023) should be explicitly clarified. Are the authors using the same data / data collection?

Added:

• "The process of theme generation begins with translation of the data from survey tool to analysis tool once the qualitative and quantitative data were parsed (i.e., Qualtrics>SPSS>NVivo). The quantitative data was analysed in a collaborative manuscript investigating associations between retrospective psychedelic experiences and nature relatedness [48]. The qualitative data being retained for analysis here. "

8. It is not always clear which parts of the text are quotations from participants and which are not. Block quotes, italicization, or some such method should be used to clarify this.

• Block pull quotes (i.e., those appearing without quotation marks preceded by a colon) are now indented and italicised with a 'return' ahead and behind so that they appear distinct from the researchers’ narrative.

9. “Others framed this extra-perceptual experience” (p. 8) – Several of the example quotations here don’t seem to suggest anything extra-perceptual necessarily. Surely pattern recognition could be heightened without extra-perceptual processes?

• Replaced with "heightened"

10. Most of the identified themes clearly relate to how psychedelics have altered or are connected to nature relatedness, but subtheme 3.3.1 does not seem to involve psychedelics at all. Maybe the authors could clarify the extent to which their analysis and the identified themes are limited to the relation to psychedelics?

 

Opening paragraph replaced with:

• "A large number of participants who reported psychedelics having an amplifying quality on their preexisting relationship to nature referenced the importance of early life experiences involving the natural world. The potential for psychedelics to bolster this relationship applied across multiple  types of environment (e.g., access to urban green spaces, rural upbringing)."

11. “Insight and mystical-type experiences have an individual but correlated role in the benefits to the psychedelic user (Tulver, Kaup, Laukkonen, & Aru, 2021)” – A review that looks at this specific question may be useful here - https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2023.00243.

 

Replaced with:

• "Insight and mystical-type experiences have an individual but correlated role in the benefits to the psychedelic user [92] for a review, see [93]"

12. ““nonspecific amplifier of the unconscious” (Grof, 1975)” (p. – Page numbers should be provided for direct quotes from books.
    
    

Amended with:

• “unspecific amplifier of mental processes” [96](p. 6)

13. “Given the importance and urgency of coming back into balance with our planet, it makes sense that the great Albert Hofmann came to view the potential of psychedelics in helping address our disconnection from the natural world as perhaps their most fundamental role” (p. 17) – Citation needed.

Not a direct quote so (p. 17) removed. Citation for paraphrasing added.

• "Given the importance and urgency of coming back into balance with our planet, it makes sense that the great Albert Hofmann came to view the potential of psychedelics in helping address our disconnection from the natural world as perhaps their most fundamental role [118]." 

Comments on English language:

1.Some sentences need re-phrasing and/or language editing to improve flow and intelligibility, e.g. “Pro-ecological behavioural changes and well-being improvements might arise from  psychedelic use in natural settings, however, this might not be limited to this environment.”, “This concept was investigated recently and indicated that psychedelics were causally influential in the shift from hard positivism to metaphysical positions such as panpsychism (Timmerman et al., 2021) suggesting that the psychedelic experiences, for some individuals, might facilitate expansion of worldview that supports ecopsychological or animistic understanding. “

Replaced with: 

"Shifts in individuals’ relationship with nature may arise from psychedelic use in natural settings, however, such shifts may not be limited to usage in such settings [22, 23]. Natural settings can induce peak experiences without the use of psychedelics. Both nature-induced and psychedelic-occasioned peak-experiences share common outcomes such as interconnectedness and increased wellbeing (for a review, see [10]. The natural environment is proposed to be the ideal setting for mystical-type experiences [31], and can be considered as a prototypical inducer of states of awe [32, 33]) which can generate profound changes in worldview and pro-environmental behaviour [34,35].

Psychedelic research suggests mystical experiences shift the experiencer away from an ontological materialist understanding of the world by increasing spirituality in experiencers [36-40). Research suggests that psychedelics may be causally influential in the shift from hard positivism to metaphysical positions such as panpsychism [41]. Psychedelic experiences, for some individuals, might facilitate expansion of worldview to incorporate a more ecopsychological or animistic understanding"

2. “Studerus et al. (2011) pooled data from eight studies where psilocybin was administered, in which similar shifts were reported in over a third of all participants, with such changes also sustained long-term (Studerus, Kometer, Hasler & Vollenweider, 2011).” – Unclear what similar shifts and such changes mean here, please rephrase more clearly.

Paragraph reworked:

"Lifetime psychedelic use has been found to predict higher levels of nature connectedness [17-19] and a prospective online study measuring a wide variety of psychological variables pre and post psychedelic use showed a significant increase in nature relatedness [18]. One retrospective study found that psychedelic mystical experiences were commonly associated with positive changes in relationships with nature [20] and self-reported pro-environmental behaviour [21]. A small clinical study also reported enduring increases in nature relatedness in a group of individuals with treatment resistant depression [22]. Studerus et al. [23] pooled data from eight studies in which psilocybin was administered and found that over a third of participants reported pro-ecological shifts that were sustained in the long-term. While nature connectedness was not specifically assessed in some of these latter studies, this positive shift in individuals’ relationship with nature is likely related to or partially explained by an increase in nature connectedness. Combined, these findings suggest psychedelics can elicit significant, sustained shifts in ecological worldview and increases in nature connectedness that persist far beyond the acute experience."

3. In Table 1, Transgender female/male seem like surprising choices of words, which could introduce unclarity about whether this refers to sex assigned at birth or gender. I suppose the standard terms would be trans woman/man or transgender woman/man.

Replaced with:

• transgender woman/man

4. “beatific” (p. 9) – is this really meant here, i.e., expressing blissful happiness or imparting holy bliss?

Changed to:

• "One participant described wonderment at visual aspects of nature which informed their nature connection"

5. “ingestion of organic psychedelics” (p. 14) – the term “organic” has multiple meanings, and it’s unclear which one is meant here

Replaced with:

• ‘naturally occurring'

 

Reviewer 3 Report

This is a very interesting manuscript describing various thematic domains reported by psychedelics users in terms of their perspectives regarding their relationship with nature and how the psychedelic experience may have influenced this. The limitations of the study, particularly issues of causation and potential biases, are well acknowledged, as is the general difficulty in trying to find an appropriate language framework for experiences that are often reported to be ineffable. Psychedelic experiences tend to emphasize transpersonal aspects of being, which remain a puzzle for science and possibly even beyond the domain of scientific methods; nevertheless the authors have made a valuable descriptive contribution with this work. The evidence that psychedelic experiences often involve increased feelings of unity with nature even when psychedelics are taken in non-natural settings suggests that there is something about the experience itself that provokes such intuitions, rather than just the setting in which they are taken. I would be interested in the findings for the question regarding which substance had the greatest influence on perceptions of one’s connection with nature; the manuscript suggests that psilocybin mushrooms may be especially likely to provoke experiences of such connection, but it would be interesting to see what the survey data show. Was there any trend for a particular psychedelic to be more associated with “ecodelic” experiences than others? Of course such a difference might just reflect the availability or current popularity of a particular substance compared to others, but the results could still be informative.

Good overall but further proofreading could be beneficial.

Author Response

Past psilocybin use has recently been found to be the most reliable predictor of nature relatedness in a combined analysis (including quantitative data parsed from this study) (Forstmann et al., 2023 [ doi: 10.1177/02698811221146356.] . The direct question around a specific substance being more reliably linked to ‘ecodelic’ experiences is beyond the data captured in this sample but if there is a tool devised for defining this type of experience it would be a fantastic research avenue. Whether increased nature relatedness, potentially facilitated by psilocybin, imparts its mode of action through content directly linked to experiences involving nature-themed content seems plausible but is a tricky question to drill down into.

In our group discussions, a lot of the debate revolved around the potential influence of ‘set’ - intention and expectation around the influence of a ‘natural compound. Again, it is beyond the scope of our data but it is perhaps the next important question into how this phenomenon arises and whether the finding is driven by the substance itself, a manifestation of expectation or a combination of both.

Additional proofreading has been undertaken as per request.

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors have adequately addressed my relatively minor concerns.

 

An additional round of spell-checking and language editing is recommended - e.g., in "LSD = Lysergic Acid Dyethylamide, DMT = Dimethyltriptamine" both names are misspelled.