Rice, Charlotte; (2022) Do autistic people attribute perceived change in mental health to a psychedelic experience? Doctoral thesis (D.Clin.Psy), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Over the past few years, research into psychedelic drugs has highlighted their therapeutic potential. This thesis aims to improve understanding about the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in two ways. Firstly, it aims to improve understanding of the lasting effects of psychedelics on social cognition or functioning. Secondly, it aims to improve understanding of the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in an autistic population. This volume is comprised of three parts. Part One presents a review of literature on the lasting effects of classic psychedelic drugs on social cognition/functioning when drugs are administered by researchers. Effects on empathy, altruism, closeness and forgiveness are considered. Part two describes an empirical study where a cross-sectional survey was used to explore autistic people’s experiences of using classic psychedelics, specifically whether they attributed any perceived changes in mental health to their most impactful psychedelic experience. Factors which were hypothesised to potentially impact on psychedelic change in mental health such as ‘degree of mystical experience’, perceived change in psychological flexibility and perceived change in social connectedness were also considered. Part three is a critical appraisal of the process of conducting the research described in part 2. This was a joint project completed with Jack Stroud (Stroud, 2022).

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