“Humans appear to be becoming ever more disconnected from the natural world, and this sense of disconnection is linked to poor mental health as well as ecological neglect and destruction. Urbanisation is increasing globally and this may be acting to cut people off from nature. This growing disconnection from the natural environment appears to be explained, in part, by the increasing usage of electronic entertainment technology, and is reflected by a shift in Western cultural products away from nature-based content in media such as books, music, and film since the 1950s. Considering the global burden of mental health problems, depression being the leading cause of disability worldwide, plus the ongoing mass extinction and environmental destruction our planet’s inhabitants are currently suffering due to human actions, identifying an effective way of enhancing nature connectedness would potentially be of great benefit to human well-being and the environment at large. This becomes especially salient in light of the present lack of effective interventions for reducing people’s environmentally destructive behaviour.” …
“We currently find ourselves in the midst of what is sometimes referred to as the ‘psychedelic renaissance’, with scientific research into the properties of these compounds expanding rapidly. This recent development follows decades of restrictive drug laws, rendering any research on these substances virtually impossible, as a reaction to the widespread public usage of psychedelics that emerged in the West during the 1960s. This early heyday of Western psychedelic culture coincided with the rapid growth and expansion of the environmental movement, which has led some to argue that psychedelic drug use may have contributed to the impetus of modern ecology movements. Reflecting these historico-cultural parallels, several recent studies have observed how psychedelics can catalyse measurable and enduring increases in people’s feelings of nature connectedness, or relatedness.” …
“A broad range of mental illnesses, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar personality disorder, and eating disorders have been linked to feelings of psychological or social disconnection. Connectedness, in a broad sense, is considered a key mediator of psychological well-being, and a factor associated with the recovery of mental health. Psychedelics such as psilocybin have been shown to increase the sense of connectedness, comprising three distinguishable aspects: a connection to the self, others, and the world at large”
“Psychedelics are associated with increases in nature relatedness and objective knowledge about climate change—both of which prior research identified as strong predictors of pro-environmental behaviour.” … “These effects could be due to the mystical-type experiences and feelings of ego dissolution that psychedelics induce, as they were strong correlates of the increase in the individual's relationship to nature following a psychedelic experience. In line with these findings, psilocybin administration studies found dose-dependent increases on self-reported external unity, that is, feelings of interconnectedness with objects from the external world. Furthermore, individuals reported enhanced connectedness and empathy towards other humans, and increases in mindfulness after psychedelic use. Although, at this point, the precise psychopharmacological effects of psychedelics are not fully understood, there is a reliable association between psychedelic use and enhanced relatedness and empathy towards one's environment, including both nature and fellow humans.” …
This paper reports on findings that, when combined with previous work, imply a reliable and robust positive association between psychedelic use and nature relatedness. More specifically, in this particular study, we found a strong relationship between the amount of lifetime use of psychedelics and nature relatedness, as well as increases in nature relatedness from before to after psychedelic use, assessed in a prospective way. The observed increase in nature relatedness post-psychedelic use was correlated with concomitant increases in psychological wellbeing and remained significantly elevated two years after the psychedelic experience. Additionally, the study found that the acute subjective experience of ego-dissolution and the environmental context of the psychedelic experience—i.e., whether it occurred in a natural setting, positively predicted increases in nature relatedness post-psychedelic. Together, these findings point to the potential of psychedelics to induce enduring positive changes in the way humans relate to their natural environments.
Kettner, H., Gandy, S., Haijen, E. C., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2019). From egoism to ecoism: Psychedelics increase nature relatedness in a state-mediated and context-dependent manner. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(24). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16245147
“Nature relatedness
Nature relatedness (NR) was assessed with the scale by Nisbet et al. (2009).”…“Nature relatedness, as conceptualized here, reflects a deep personal connection to nature, experiencing comfort in natural environments, and seeing nature as an essential part of the self. It is associated with positive mental and physical health outcomes. Yet, recent research suggests that it may also be related to mental health issues such as stress and depression, possibly due to a heightened awareness of the noticeable ecological destruction in people's immediate environment . In line with this reasoning, we found nature relatedness to predict concern about climate change. With the increasingly visible negative consequences of climate change—Europe's 2022 summer was the hottest, driest and involving the largest wildfires in recorded history, causing tens of thousands of people to be evacuated —feeling connected to nature may thus cause despair and distress, gradually curbing its positive mental health effects. Future research could follow up on this complex relationship.”
Sagioglou, C., & Forstmann, M. (2022). Psychedelic use predicts objective knowledge about climate change via increases in nature relatedness. Drug Science, Policy and Law, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503245221129803
“In light of the ongoing global ecological crisis due to anthropogenic climate change, researchers from multiple disciplines strongly emphasized the growing need to understand the cognitive and affective processes involved in pro-environmental behavior, and how to promote behavior change toward sustainability and conservation in the general population. While ecological behavior is notoriously difficult to predict — being associated with a diverse range of variables, ranging from contact with nature as a child to gender and social class — many now consider people’s growing disconnect from nature to be one of the primary drivers behind society’s failure to address these pressing issues. A recent line of research found that past use of classic, serotonergic psychedelics positively predicts people’s sense of connectedness with the natural environment, and thereby, self-reported pro-environmental behavior …
In addition to its relation to pro-environmental behavior, NR (and its related constructs) is considered a basic human need, and is positively associated with a host of variables related to psychological well-being, including reduced anxiety, happiness and life satisfaction, emotional and social well-being, perceived meaning in life, and personal growth …
… in a small sample of patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression, Lyons and Carhart-Harris (2018) found an increase in nature-relatedness after two oral doses of psilocybin, persisting up to 7 – 12 months post treatment. Likewise, Kettner et al. (2019) found that participants’ self-reported nature-relatedness increased after an experience with a self-administered psychedelic substance, with increases persisting up to 24 months post-experience. In their study, the extent of the increase in NR was dependent on the degree of ego-dissolution participants experienced, in line with previous results from a cross-sectional study, as well as how strongly participants perceived that their experience was influenced by their natural surroundings. Similarly, in qualitative interviews, indigenous community members in Canada reported a strengthened sense of connection to the natural world directly after participation in a retreat involving the administration of the DMT-containing brew ayahuasca. Adding to this evidence base of prospective psychedelic-induced changes in NR, Kaertner et al. (2021) found a small increase in NR following a 4-week self-initiated microdosing regimen. Given the multidirectional association between psychedelic substance use, NR, and mental health, a nature-focused, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has been theorized to be a promising tool in addressing mental health related issues.
One hypothesized mechanism by which psychedelic substances may increase NR is a heightened perception of external unity—a sense of connectedness with elements found in one’s environment that is a core element of the so-called mystical-type experience sometimes occasioned by psychedelics. Such a sense of external unity can be a consequence of substance-induced ego dissolution, that is, a partial or full loss of the concept of self (or a disruption of the distinction between self- and object-representation) during the peak psychedelic experience. This sense of connectedness may extend to other people, individual external objects, or one’s entire environment. A perceived fusion of self and nature, in particular, may increase ascriptions of human mental states to the natural world, potentially promoting feelings of empathy and concerns toward it. Supporting this notion, both mystical-type experiences and experiences of ego dissolution were found to be associated with self-reported changes in people’s relationship with nature after a psychedelic experience.
Forstmann, M., Kettner, H. S., Sagioglou, C., Irvine, A., Gandy, S., Carhart-Harris, R. L., & Luke, D. (2023). Among psychedelic-experienced users, only past use of psilocybin reliably predicts nature relatedness. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 37(1), 93–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811221146356
Forstmann, M., Kettner, H. S., Sagioglou, C., Irvine, A., Gandy, S., Carhart-Harris, R. L., & Luke, D. (2023). Among psychedelic-experienced users, only past use of psilocybin reliably predicts nature relatedness. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 37(1), 93–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811221146356
From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner DOI | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16245147
Nature-themed video intervention may improve cardiovascular safety of psilocybin-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder DOI | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1215972
The potential synergistic effects between psychedelic administration and nature contact for the improvement of mental health DOI | https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2055102920978123
A prospective survey study (n=654) established a (weak to moderate) causal link between the use of psychedelics and nature relatedness. This was mediated by the extend of ego-death and perceived relatedness to nature during the psychedelic experience. This paper argues that psychedelics may bring us closer to nature.
Nilsson, M., & Stalhammar, S. (2024, January). Psychedelics and inner dimensions of sustainability: A Literature Review. (PDF) sustainability: A comprehensive literature - researchgate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292906714_Sustainability_A_Comprehensive_Literature
More Reading:
Forstmann, M., Kettner, H. S., Sagioglou, C., Irvine, A., Gandy, S., Carhart-Harris, R. L., & Luke, D. (2023). Among psychedelic-experienced users, only past use of psilocybin reliably predicts nature relatedness. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 37(1), 93–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811221146356
From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner DOI | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16245147
Nature-themed video intervention may improve cardiovascular safety of psilocybin-assisted therapy for alcohol use disorder DOI | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1215972
The potential synergistic effects between psychedelic administration and nature contact for the improvement of mental health DOI | https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2055102920978123