Attitudes Towards Psilocybin: A General Population's Opinions on Psilocybin and Psilocybin-Assisted Therapies
Date
2024-06-24
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Abstract
In recent years, psilocybin-assisted therapies (PAT) have displayed positive effects as a treatment for several different issues including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), smoking addiction, and anxiety. As more positive benefits of psilocybin are discovered, it’s becoming more likely that psilocybin could be utilized as a treatment option. Due to this possibility, it is important to understand what people think about psilocybin and PAT. The current qualitative and descriptive study set out with the intention of understanding the relationship demographic characteristics and attitudes towards psilocybin and psilocybin-assisted therapies. An anonymous Qualtrics survey was utilized to collect the data of 198 participants. Participants filled out various survey items inquiring about demographics, knowledge about psilocybin, previous experience with psychedelics, and attitudes towards PAT. Participants with prior knowledge about psilocybin and prior experience with psychedelics had more positive attitudes towards PAT. Males, democrats, atheists, those who are not disabled had more positive attitudes towards PAT as well. Participants that were sourced from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTURK) described more positive opinions of PAT as opposed to other sourcing cites. Attitudes towards PAT were relatively positive across the overall data set. These findings provide relevant information as to the groups that may benefit from further education on PAT and it’s benefits.
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psilocybin, psilocybin-assisted therapy, psychedelics