Translated from our German original by AI. The German text was researched, written, and edited by the Psychedelia Foundation team and remains the authoritative version.
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis has examined whether psychedelic experiences are associated with a reduction in the fear of death. The analysis finds a statistically significant positive overall effect of Cohen’s d = 0.70 (95% confidence interval: 0.42 to 0.97), which corresponds to a moderate to large effect.
Effects were stronger in clinically controlled studies than in studies with people from the general population. A meta-regression further suggested that mystical experiences in particular are linked to a stronger reduction in death anxiety. For the type of psychedelic substance used, by contrast, no significant moderating influence was found.
The qualitative analysis identified recurring themes such as ego dissolution, emotional processing, and a stronger orientation toward the present moment. In the authors’ assessment, psychedelic-assisted interventions could therefore be of particular interest in end-of-life care.
The results do not yet permit the clear conclusion that psychedelics causally reduce death anxiety. The underlying evidence is limited and heterogeneous, and the authors also point to a possible publication bias and to differences in how death anxiety was measured. The statistical heterogeneity of the pooled studies is very high.
The link between mystical experiences and lower death anxiety should likewise be read as a signal of a possible contributing factor, not as evidence of a mechanism of action. The authors therefore call for further methodologically robust studies to examine the observed associations and possible mechanisms more closely.
In sum, the research so far suggests that psychedelic experiences can be associated with less fear of death. How large and how robust this effect actually is, and what role the quality of the psychedelic experience plays, will have to be settled by further controlled research.
