Background

Public and scientific interest in the effect of psychedelic drugs on wellbeing has risen significantly. Preliminary data show that psychedelic drugs, specifically classic psychedelics (DMT, psilocybin, mescaline, and LSD), may have the potential to treat mood disorders and increase wellbeing through their acute subjective effects. The acute subjective and enduring effects of psychedelics on wellbeing seem to relate to positive psychological frameworks considerably (e.g., resilience factors and PERMA). Moreover, optimizing acute subjective effects indicates the importance of set (individual’s internal (mental) factors) and setting (individual’s external factors) in psychedelics administration as moderating factors. A new subfield in positive psychology, positive humanities, can potentially significantly inform set and setting studies.

Aims

This literature review aims to investigate the potential for positive psychology and positive humanities in enhancing psychedelic studies, specifically the research areas of acute subjective effects and set and setting.

Method

Hundreds of literature, including research studies (mainly meta-analysis and randomized control trials), are reviewed, and 200 hundred of them are chosen to include in this literature review.

Results

Preliminary research shows that there is a scientifically significant alignment between the operation of psychedelic drugs and positive psychology and the positive humanities.

Conclusion

There appear to be opportunities for research and scholarship at the intersection of these fields worth investigating. Psychedelics might be a new and prominent positive psychological technology to improve mental health, wellbeing, resiliency, and flourishing. Also, psychedelics administration to healthy individuals could be the new era of positive psychopharmacology.