Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36633720›Full record

ArticleCulture, medicine and psychiatry2023

Hallucinations and Hallucinogens: Psychopathology or Wisdom?

José Carlos Bouso, Genís Ona, Maja Kohek, Rafael G Dos Santos, Jaime E C Hallak, Miguel Ángel Alcázar-Córcoles, Joan Obiols-Llandrich

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Culture, medicine and psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Psychosis Related to Nitrous Oxide Misuse: A Case Series and Systematic Review.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

José Carlos BousoInternational Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service - ICEERS, Barcelona, Spain. jcbouso@iceers.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1115-9407
Genís OnaInternational Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service - ICEERS, Barcelona, Spain.
Maja KohekInternational Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service - ICEERS, Barcelona, Spain.
Rafael G Dos SantosInternational Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service - ICEERS, Barcelona, Spain.
Jaime E C HallakDepartment of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Miguel Ángel Alcázar-CórcolesDepartment of Biological & Health Psychology, School of Psychology, Madrid Autonomous University, Madrid, Spain.
Joan Obiols-LlandrichInternational Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service - ICEERS, Barcelona, Spain.
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea · DKNational Council for Scientific and Technological Development · BRUniversidad Autónoma de Madrid · ESUniversidade de São Paulo · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hallucinations are currently associated almost exclusively with psychopathological states. While it is evident that hallucinations can indicate psychopathology or neurological disorders, we should remember that hallucinations also commonly occur in people without any signs of psychopathology. A similar case occurs in the case of hallucinogenic drugs, which have been long associated with psychopathology and insanity. However, during the last decades a huge body of research has shown that certain kinds of hallucinations, exerted by hallucinogenic drugs, may serve to improve mental health. We propose that, in light of historical, epidemiological, and scientific research, hallucinations can be better characterized as a common phenomenon associated sometimes with psychopathology but also with functional and even beneficial outcomes. In the last sections of the manuscript, we extend our argument, suggesting that hallucinations can offer a via regia to knowledge of the mind and the world. This radical shift in the cultural interpretation of hallucinations could have several implications for fields such as drug policy, civil law, and psychiatry, as well as for the stigma associated with mental disorders.

Indexed as

HallucinogensMental DisordersPsychotic DisordersHallucinationsHumansPsychopathologyHallucinogensHallucinationsHallucinogensOntologyPsychedelicsPsychopathologyPsychotherapy

Identifiers

PMID36633720
PMCPMC9838303
OpenAlexW4315701643

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.