Altered States of Consciousness During Ceremonial San Pedro Use

Figures & data

Figure 1. Altered states of consciousness as measured with the 11D-ASC and EDI associated with ceremonial San Pedro use.

Horizontal bar chart of mean scores of the 11D-ASC subscales and EDI scale revealing significant differences from the sober state (first study aim; all 11D-ASC subscales and the EDI were statistically different from 0, i.e. the sober state) and the consciousness profile of ceremonial San Pedro use (second study aim; see the main text for the statistical differences between subscales). Error bars indicate the 95% confidence interval. Figure S1 in the online supplementary materials displays a radar chart of the same 11D-ASC subscales without Ego-dissolution. Radar graphs have been used in other research on ASC and allow for quick visual comparison between different substances.

Table 1. Descriptive information and results of one-sample t-test of the 11D-ASC and EDI (N = 42).

Scale	M	SD	t-value	p-value*	skew.se2**	Min-max
11D-ASC
Experience of unity	53.64	31.07	11.19	<.001	−.05	1-100
Spiritual experience	63.13	33.00	12.40	<.001	−.93	1.5-100
Blissful state	50.98	30.03	11.00	<.001	−.36	0–99.6
Insightfulness	51.72	26.06	12.86	<.001	−.30	1-100
Disembodiment	22.60	24.19	6.05	<.001	1.20	0–76.33
Impaired Control and Cognition	21.83	20.43	6.92	<.001	1.45	0-80
Anxiety	10.86	13.99	5.03	<.001	2.63	0–56.67
Complex Imagery	45.24	30.95	9.47	<.001	.24	0-100
Elementary Imagery	43.75	33.86	8.38	<.001	.09	0-100
Audio-visual synesthesia	36.69	32.56	7.30	<.001	.60	0–96.67
Changed meaning of percepts	45.94	28.44	10.47	<.001	−.79	1-100
Ego-dissolution Inventory	47.85	26.17	11.85	<.001	−.77	2.38–98.62

* This p-value displays the significant difference from zero, obtained by a one-sample t-test.

** skew.2se values above 1 or below −1 signify abnormality of the distribution due to outliers.

The table presents an overview of the results from one-sample t-tests, including means (M), standard deviations (SD), t-values, significance values (p-value), skewness of distribution (skew.se2), minimum and maximum obtained values (Min-Max). In Table S1 (see supplementary online materials), we report the data of the 11D-ASC scale in a different format, namely the 5D-ASC and 3D-OAV scales that collapse the information in the 11D-ASC in five and three factors, respectively.

Table 2. Descriptive information of the MEQ and the CEQ (N = 42).

Scale	M	SD	skew.2se*	Min-Max
Challenging Experience Questionnaire	.20	.19	2.32	0-.90
Fear	.15	.23	2.70	0-1
Grief	.29	.26	1.42	0-1
Physical distress	.28	.23	1.21	0-.92
Insanity	.11	.18	3.25	0-.87
Isolation	.16	.20	2.05	0-.087
Death	.10	.24	3.51	0-1
Paranoia	.08	.18	3.82	0-.8
Mystical Experience Questionnaire	3.15	1.14	−.87	.23-4.8
Mystical	3.29	1.25	−1.18	0-5
Positive mood	3.25	.126	−1.15	0-5
Transcendence of space and time	2.58	1.31	.066	0.5-5
Ineffability	3.37	1.29	−.917	0-5

* skew.2se values above 1 or below −1 signify abnormality of the distribution due to outliers

The table presents an overview of the descriptive information from the Challenging Experience Questionnaire and Mystical Experience Questionnaire, including means (M), standard deviations (SD), skewness of distribution (skew.2se), minimum and maximum obtained values (Min-Max).

Figure 2. Network analysis graph.

The graphical result of the network analysis. Each node represents either a subscale or total score of our measurements (Red = 11D-ASC, yellow = EDI, green = MEQ, blue = CEQ). Lines represent significant correlations corrected for multiple comparisons. No information can be deduced from distance and angle between two nodes. For further explanation see method and result section. Some variables were abbreviated among the 11D-ASC (Unity = Feelings of Unity; Spiritual = Spiritual Experience; Blissful = Blissful state; Insight. = Insightfulness; Disembod. = Disembodiment; Impair. = Impaired control and cognition; Elementary = Elementary Imagery; Complex = Complex Imagery; Synesthesia = Audio-visual synesthesia; Change = Changed meaning of percepts) and the MEQ (Positive = Positive Mood; Transcendence = Transcendence in time and space) and the CEQ (Distress = Physical distress).

Data availability statement

All data, stimuli and analysis scripts belonging to this research are available through the APA repository in the Open Science Framework via the following link: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1212328.