Altered States of Consciousness, Wellbeing
Conditions
Keywords
Breathwork
Brief summary
This study aims to investigate the impact of high ventilation breathwork (HVB) and meditation on altered states of consciousness (ASCs). The study will compare the effects of a single guided HVB session to a single guided body scan meditation session. The primary aim is to explore the impact of HVB and meditation on ASCs, while secondary aims relate to mental health and wellbeing.
Detailed description
The study is a randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving up to 24 healthy adult participants who have prior experience with HVB. Participants will be randomly allocated to either the HVB or meditation group. The study will assess outcomes such as altered states of consciousness, mystical experiences, emotional breakthroughs, and overall wellbeing.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALHigh ventilation breathwork
Single guided conscious connected breathing session.
BEHAVIORALMeditation
Single guided body scan meditation session.
Sponsors
DMT Quest
ResearchHub
University of Sussex
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Healthy adults in Brighton and the surrounding area * Prior experience practising high ventilation breathwork in the form of conscious connected breathing * No history of adverse events during such prior breathwork sessions.
Exclusion criteria
* History of hypotension * Hypertension * Respiratory or cardiovascular problems * Fainting or syncope * Epilepsy or seizures * Panic disorder or panic attacks * Cerebral aneurysm * Pregnancy (and possibility one might be pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or are breastfeeding) * Breathlessness * Bradypnea * Tachypnoea * Any mental/physical issues affecting the ability to engage in breath control activities.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Emotional breakthrough | Immediately after the intervention. | Emotional Breakthrough Inventory. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater levels of emotional breakthrough (reflecting a better outcome). |
| Mystical experience | Immediately after the intervention. | Mystical Experience Questionnaire Brief. Comprises four subscales: transcendence, positive mood, ineffability, and mystical. Scores range from 0 to 20, with higher scores indicating a more profound mystical experience. |
| Altered states of consciousness | Immediately after the intervention. | Five Dimensions of Altered States of Consciousness Scale. Comprises five subscales: oceanic boundlessness, dread of ego dissolution, visionary restructuralisation, auditory alterations and vigilance reduction. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more profound altered states of consciousness. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fatigue | Baseline and post-intervention (one week before and after the intervention). | Shortened Fatigue Questionnaire. Scores range from 4 to 28, with higher scores indicating more severe fatigue. |
| Mental wellbeing | Baseline and post-intervention (one week before and after the intervention). | Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS) (score range: 7 to 35; higher scores denote better outcome). Total raw scores are then transformed into metric scores using the SWEMWBS conversion table on: www.warwick.ac.uk |
| Depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress | Baseline and post-intervention (one week before and after the intervention). | Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) - stress, anxiety and depression subscales (score range for each: 0-21; higher scores denote worse outcomes). Score on DASS-21 then multiplied by two to convert it to the longer form DASS-42 final score. |
| Sleep-related impairment | Baseline and post-intervention (one week before and after the intervention). | PROMIS Item Bank v. 1.0 - Sleep-Related Impairment - Short Form 4a (score range: 5-20; higher scores denote worse outcome). Data scored using a T-score transformation according to PROMIS Sleep scoring manual on: www.healthmeasures.net |
| Psychological insight | Post-intervention (one week after the intervention). | Psychological Insight Scale. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater psychological insight. An additional item separately evaluates self-reported behavioural change resulting from a psychedelic experience. |
| Depersonalisation | Immediately after the intervention. | Cambridge Depersonalisation Scale (State-Version). Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater levels of dissociative symptoms. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Psychedelic experience predictiveness | After completing consent form to participate in the study. | Imperial Psychedelic Predictor Scale. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores donating higher predictiveness of having a psychedelic experience. Additional items assess rapport. |
| General experience | One week post-intervention. | Open-ended, free text. |
Countries
United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed