Table 2.
Volunteer ratings on the Persisting Effects Questionnaire completed 2 months following the methylphenidate and psilocybin sessions, and again retrospectively for psilocybin at the 14-month follow-up a,b
| Scale or Question Description | Methylphenidate (2 months) (n=29)c |
Psilocybin (2 months) (n=29) |
Psilocybin (14 months) (n=29) |
Psilocybin (14 months) (N=36)d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive attitudes about life and/or self | 23.4 (4.0) | 53.1 (4.6)* | 53.5 (5.4)* | 53.6 (4.7) |
| Negative attitudes about life and/or self | 0.3 (0.1) | 0.6 (0.3) | 0.5 (0.3) | 0.7 (0.3) |
| Positive mood changes | 16.6 (3.1) | 37.4 (4.7)* | 36.0 (5.5)* | 37.9 (4.8) |
| Negative mood changes | 0.5 (0.4) | 1.4 (0.6) | 1.6 (0.9) | 1.7 (0.8) |
| Altruistic/positive social effects | 19.0 (4.1) | 44.5 (5.3)* | 45.5 (6.3)* | 46.3 (5.4) |
| Antisocial/negative social effects | 0.3 (0.2) | 0.7 (0.4) | 0.7 (0.4) | 0.6 (0.4) |
| Positive behavior changes | 29.7 (6.1) | 56.6 (5.0)* | 58.3 (5.4)* | 58.1 (4.9) |
| Negative behavior changes | 1.4 (1.0) | 0 (0) | 0.7 (0.7) | 0.6 (0.6) |
| How personally meaningful was the experience? | 3.6 (0.3) | 6.4 (0.2)* | 6.3 (0.3)* | 6.1 (0.2) |
| How spiritually significant was the experience? | 2.7 (0.2) | 4.8 (0.2)* | 4.5 (0.3)* | 4.5 (0.2) |
| Did the experience change your sense of well-being or | ||||
| or life satisfaction? | +0.9 (0.2) | +1.9 (0.2)* | +1.9 (0.2)* | +1.8 (0.2) |
Data are mean ratings with 1 S.E.M. shown in parentheses
Data on attitudes, mood, social, and behavior changes are expressed as percentage of maximum possible score; data for the three questions are raw scores
For the 5 subjects who received methylphenidate on two sessions and who completed this questionnaire, the data are from the first session
Data for the full group of 36 was not available for the 2-month assessments but is presented here for comparison
Indicates significant difference from methylphenidate 2-month assessment (p<.0001); there were no significant differences between the psilocybin 2-month condition and the psilocybin 14-month follow-up (n=29)