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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/psychedelic-benefits-may-partially-depend-on-your-personality-new-research-suggests/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Psychedelic benefits may partially depend on your personality, new research suggests</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 9th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A psychedelic trip that leaves one person feeling transformed could leave another feeling unsettled — and personality may be part of the reason. In the <em><a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/aop/article-10.1556-2054.2025.00414/article-10.1556-2054.2025.00414.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Psychedelic Studies</a></em>, researchers report that openness predicted positive, mystical experiences, while neuroticism was linked to more challenging and negative outcomes.</p>
<p>Psychedelic substances such as psilocybin (found in certain “magic” mushrooms), LSD, and DMT are known for producing profound alterations in perception, thought, and emotion. They act primarily on the brain’s serotonergic system and have been used in both ceremonial and experimental contexts for centuries. In recent years, scientific interest in these compounds has grown due to their potential to enhance well-being and treat mental health conditions, with some studies suggesting that a single experience can have lasting positive effects on quality of life.</p>
<p>The current study examined these experiences through the lens of the Big Five personality model — one of the most widely accepted frameworks in psychology. The Big Five describes personality across five broad dimensions: openness (curiosity and preference for novelty), conscientiousness (organization and reliability), extraversion (sociability and energy), agreeableness (cooperativeness and empathy), and neuroticism (tendency toward negative emotions).</p>
<p>While prior research has shown that psychedelic experiences can be deeply meaningful, people often respond in very different ways. Some find the experience transformative and life-enhancing; others encounter intense anxiety or distress. The study’s authors aimed to understand whether personality traits could help explain this variation. They also sought to assess both the quality of these experiences — whether they were mystical, challenging, or both — and their long-term consequences, whether positive or negative.</p>
<p>This individual differences perspective is often missing from psychedelic research, which tends to focus on average outcomes. By incorporating personality, the researchers hoped to provide a more nuanced picture of who might benefit most from psychedelic use and who might be more vulnerable to adverse effects.</p>
<p>“At Lund University, south Sweden, we have the national leading center of personality research, and applying individual differences in personality traits to one of the most phenomenologically interesting experiences a human being arguably can have is of course in the interest of psychological research. We also have several parallel projects, such as one of the first randomized controlled trials on anorexia and psilocybin, and the first doctoral project on psychedelic effects on adolescents compared to adults,” explained <a href="https://goo.gl/8ZnTOC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Petri J. Kajonius</a>, an associate professor of personality psychology and assessment.</p>
<p>Because psychedelic use is prohibited in Sweden, the researchers recruited participants through an anonymous online survey shared on social media. The 400 respondents, one-third of whom were women, had an average age of about 34 years. Most had used LSD or psilocybin, and many reported taking these substances with a personal growth motive, often in natural settings and sometimes with a “trip sitter” present.</p>
<p>Participants were asked to recall the single most impactful psychedelic experience they had ever had, which typically occurred in their early twenties. They rated the significance of this experience compared to other life events, the degree to which it was challenging or mystical, and its lasting positive and negative effects. They also completed a 30-item questionnaire assessing their standing on the Big Five traits.</p>
<p>The researchers measured “challenging” qualities through reports of fear, difficulty, and threat during the experience, while “mystical” qualities were assessed through feelings of ego dissolution and a sense of unity. Positive and negative life consequences were gauged through changes in areas such as self-concept, relationships, anxiety, and mood.</p>
<p>The vast majority of participants rated their psychedelic experience as highly significant: 82% placed it among the top ten most meaningful events in their lives, 56% among the top five, and 11% as the single most significant.</p>
<p>Participants described their “most meaningful” psychedelic experience as both demanding and otherworldly. On the study’s 0–5 scales, the experience was rated moderately challenging (3.14) and even more mystical (3.63). Long-term fallout leaned strongly positive: negative aftereffects were minimal (0.14), while positive life changes were high (4.26).</p>
<p>Openness was the trait most consistently tied to beneficial outcomes. Higher openness related to stronger mystical qualities during the experience and to greater positive life effects afterward. When the sample was split at the mean, those high in openness had nearly double the odds of reporting substantial positive changes. Openness also showed a small link with reporting the experience as more challenging, suggesting that open individuals may engage more deeply and come away seeing more upside.</p>
<p>“The Big Five trait Openness seems to be a very strong predictor for many outcomes <em>before</em>, <em>during</em>, and <em>after</em> a psychedelic experience,” Kajonius told PsyPost. “This result is furthermore likely underestimated, seeing the low internal consistency in the psychometrics.”</p>
<p>Neuroticism showed the opposite trend. It was modestly associated with reporting negative consequences and with reporting fewer positive outcomes. Expressed as odds, higher neuroticism corresponded to a 56% increase in the likelihood of negative aftereffects. Although these effects were small, they suggest that people prone to anxiety and emotional volatility are more likely to experience lingering downsides and less likely to report broad, lasting benefits.</p>
<p>“The most important takeaway is perhaps that individuals do not see the world similarly, and that individual differences in Big Five traits is one avenue of exploring and understanding this fact,” Kajonius said. “Applying this to a psychedelic experience would, according to our hypothesis, yield some patterns from personality — which it arguably did indeed show.”</p>
<p>Other traits played a smaller role. Conscientiousness showed a modest positive association with beneficial life changes. Extraversion and agreeableness had only minor links with positive outcomes, and none of the traits related strongly to negative consequences beyond neuroticism’s modest effect.</p>
<p>The findings suggest that personality plays a meaningful role in how people experience and respond to psychedelics. For those exploring the therapeutic use of psychedelics, these insights could help tailor experiences to the individual, maximizing potential benefits while minimizing risks.</p>
<p>“Our study again gives evidence that not only <em>dose</em> and <em>context</em> matter, but also the <em>person</em>, the psychological constitution of the individual taking the psychedelic substance,” Kajonius told PsyPost. “This is of course well known within psychiatry, but for some reason this hasn’t been as evident in nascent research on psychedelics. For instance, neurotic persons should take extra caution, while open-minded persons tend to explore and grow in their personality in regard to psychedelics.”</p>
<p>As with all research, there are limitations to consider. The sample was self-selected, likely skewing toward individuals with especially meaningful or positive psychedelic experiences. As Kajonius noted, the sample “is very, very skewed towards psychonauts.”</p>
<p>Another complication is that psychedelic experiences themselves may alter personality traits, making it difficult to determine whether the traits influenced the experience or were shaped by it. Some research has suggested that psychedelic use can lead to lasting increases in openness and decreases in neuroticism.</p>
<p>Future studies could address these issues by using larger, more diverse samples, assessing personality before and after psychedelic use, and including people who have had less positive or more neutral experiences. Controlled experimental designs, though challenging with these substances, would also help clarify cause-and-effect relationships.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2025.00414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Five personality and the psychedelic experience: An initial report</a>,” was authored by Petri J. Kajonius, David Sjöström, and Emma Claesdotter-Knutsson.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/pet-dogs-fail-to-favor-generous-people-over-selfish-ones-in-tests/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Pet dogs fail to favor generous people over selfish ones in tests</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 9th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01967-w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Animal Cognition</a></em> challenges the idea that dogs can judge a person’s character based on how that person behaves toward others. Researchers tested whether pet dogs could form “reputations” of humans after either watching them interact with another dog or interacting with them directly. Across all age groups, the dogs did not show a consistent preference for a generous food-giver over a selfish one, suggesting that reputation formation in dogs may be more limited—or harder to detect—than previously thought.</p>
<p>The research team set out to examine a long-standing question in animal cognition: can domesticated dogs evaluate people socially in ways that influence whom they choose to approach? While previous studies have reported mixed results, few have directly compared different age groups or tested both direct interaction and observational “eavesdropping” in the same experiment.</p>
<p>“I’ve always been fascinated by how animals think and behave. As a comparative psychologist, I study social cognition in group-living mammals to better understand the mental processes behind their interactions—and what that might reveal about our own behaviour. This study was part of my PhD project on social eavesdropping in dogs, wolves, and elephants,” said study author <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/hljim.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hoi-Lam Jim</a>, a postdoctoral researcher in the Yamamoto Lab at the Institute for the Future of Human Society at Kyoto University.</p>
<p>“We conducted this study as a follow-up to our earlier work (Jim et al., 2022), in which we tested pack-living dogs and wolves at the Wolf Science Center in Austria. These animals’ life experiences differ significantly from those of pet dogs. That study also found no evidence of reputation formation, but it remained unclear whether the negative results reflected cognitive limitations or differences in life experience.”</p>
<p>“With the current study, we aimed to disentangle the role of ontogeny in dogs’ social evaluation abilities by testing pet dogs of different ages,” Jim explained. “We predicted that older dogs would perform better due to greater experience with humans.”</p>
<p>Forty pet dogs of varying breeds and ages were recruited from a volunteer database. The researchers divided them into three age groups—young (1–3 years), adult (4–7 years), and senior (8–12 years)—to use age as a stand-in for lifetime experience with humans.</p>
<p>The experiment involved three conditions. In the eavesdropping condition, dogs watched two unfamiliar women interact with a “dog demonstrator.” One woman acted generously by offering food, while the other withheld it and turned away. In the control condition, the same actions were performed but without a dog present, to ensure that any response wasn’t just due to human gestures or tone. In the direct experience condition, the participating dog interacted with the generous and selfish partners directly.</p>
<p>Testing took place in an outdoor enclosure, with procedures carefully designed to avoid bias from experimenter position, clothing, or inadvertent cues from owners (who wore blindfolds). The main outcomes were which person the dog approached first and how much time the dog spent showing affiliative behaviors—such as staying close or looking at the person. Statistical models compared performance across conditions and age groups, while also accounting for trial order and possible side or color biases.</p>
<p>Contrary to expectations, the results showed no group-level preference for the generous partner in any condition. Only three individual dogs—two seniors and one young—consistently favored one partner, and one of these actually preferred the selfish person. Age did not predict success, and more exposure across trials did not make dogs more likely to choose the generous partner. Roughly a third of the dogs showed a consistent side preference, likely due to a shaded area on one side of the testing space, but removing these cases did not change the outcome.</p>
<p>“Our results did not provide clear evidence that dogs can form reputations of humans, either through direct interactions or by observing third-party interactions (eavesdropping),” Jim told PsyPost. “This suggests that pet dogs may not form quick judgements about people, and that reputation formation may be quite cognitively demanding for animals.”</p>
<p>“While it wasn’t surprising that dogs didn’t show signs of eavesdropping (since that ability is more cognitively complex), it was unexpected that we also didn’t find evidence for direct reputation formation. It seems intuitive that dogs would prefer someone who feeds them over someone who withholds food, so it was surprising that we couldn’t even demonstrate this basic preference in our study.”</p>
<p>The team suggests several possible explanations. One is that even direct reputation learning may require more repeated interactions than were provided here; studies with chimpanzees, for example, have shown that dozens of trials may be needed before a reliable preference emerges.</p>
<p>Another is that the visual cues distinguishing the two partners—different clothing colors—might not have been salient enough. It’s also possible that the dogs formed impressions but did not act on them in the low-stakes testing environment, especially since pet dogs are accustomed to generally positive treatment from strangers and were not food-deprived.</p>
<p>Environmental factors could also have played a role. Conducting the study outdoors introduced distractions and uncontrolled variables such as the sun–shade difference, which may have influenced choices independently of the partners’ behavior. The authors note that while lab settings remove such variables, they also strip away the ecological complexity of real-life decision-making.</p>
<p>“Although we didn’t find evidence that dogs form reputations of humans in our study, that doesn’t mean they lack the capacity,” Jim noted. “It’s possible that the experimental design, such as the two-choice paradigm, didn’t fully capture how dogs evaluate others. We also can’t rule out the possibility that dogs did form reputations internally but didn’t express their preferences in a way we could detect.”</p>
<p>The researchers suggest that future studies compare dogs from different environments, such as free-ranging populations, shelter residents, and working dogs, to see whether varying life experiences influence the ability to evaluate humans. They also recommend testing scenarios where negative behaviors—rather than generosity—are the focus, as some studies have found animals are more likely to avoid unhelpful or unfriendly individuals than to seek out helpful ones.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01967-w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Do dogs form reputations of humans? No effect of age after indirect and direct experience in a food-giving situation</a>,” was authored by Hoi-Lam Jim, Kadisha Belfiore, Eva B. Martinelli, Mayte Martínez, Friederike Range, and Sarah Marshall-Pescini.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/ais-personality-reading-powers-arent-always-what-they-seem-study-finds/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">AI’s personality-reading powers aren’t always what they seem, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 9th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p data-start="163" data-end="662">A recent <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0323096"><em data-start="165" data-end="175">PLOS One</em></a> study shows that AI can identify personality traits from writing, but its reliability depends on the data it’s trained on. Researchers found that some models achieve high accuracy by spotting obvious hints — such as writers explicitly mentioning their personality type — rather than interpreting subtle linguistic patterns. When these direct clues were removed, performance dropped, indicating that some seemingly impressive results may not reflect a true understanding of personality.</p>
<p data-start="163" data-end="662">Natural language processing is the branch of AI that focuses on teaching computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. It powers tools like chatbots, translation systems, and content analyzers. In personality research, NLP can be used to scan written text for patterns that reflect psychological traits — a concept rooted in the lexical hypothesis, which proposes that important personality characteristics are embedded in everyday language.</p>
<p>The study was conducted by University of Barcelona researchers David Saeteros and David Gallardo-Pujol — a researcher and the director, respectively, of the Individual Differences Lab Research Group (IDLab) in the Faculty of Psychology and the Institute of Neurosciences (UBneuro) — along with Daniel Ortiz Martínez, a researcher in the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science.</p>
<p>“Our motivation came from observing a disconnect in the field. While computer scientists were achieving impressive accuracy scores using AI to detect personality from text, they weren’t examining how these models actually make their decisions,” the researchers told PsyPost.</p>
<p>“Most studies focused solely on performance metrics, but we wondered: are these models truly capturing personality signals, or are they just picking up on superficial patterns and biases in the data? We wanted to open the ‘black box’ of AI personality detection using explainability techniques to see if the models’ decision-making actually aligns with what decades of research on personality theory have established—essentially validating whether high accuracy means the AI truly understands personality expression in language.”</p>
<p>The researchers set out to test not only whether AI could predict personality from text, but whether its decisions aligned with established personality theories. They compared two popular personality models: the Big Five, which measures traits like Openness and Agreeableness on continuous scales, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a typological system with 16 personality types. While the Big Five is widely supported by research, MBTI remains popular despite long-standing criticisms from psychologists about its scientific validity.</p>
<p>Two large text datasets were used. The first, known as the Essays dataset, contains thousands of stream-of-consciousness essays written by participants and labeled with Big Five scores. The second came from an online personality forum, where users posted messages alongside their self-identified MBTI types.</p>
<p>To analyze the text, the researchers used two advanced transformer-based models — BERT and RoBERTa — fine-tuned for personality classification. They also applied an explainability technique called Integrated Gradients, which identifies which words most influenced the model’s decisions.</p>
<p>In addition to the original MBTI dataset, the team created modified versions where explicit references to MBTI types (like “INTJ” or “ENFP”) were removed or replaced with placeholder symbols. This allowed them to see how much the models relied on overt self-labeling rather than genuine linguistic patterns linked to personality.</p>
<p>The researchers found that AI could predict Big Five traits from the Essays dataset with moderate accuracy, and that the most influential words often made sense in light of personality theory. For example, “music” and “world” were linked to Openness, while “family” and “home” were linked to Agreeableness. The models also picked up on subtle cues, such as the word “hate” contributing to Agreeableness in contexts expressing empathy or concern.</p>
<p>“What surprised us most was discovering how contextually sophisticated these AI models can be. Initially, we were puzzled when words like ‘hate’ showed up as important indicators for agreeableness—which seemed counterintuitive,” the researchers said. “But when we examined the actual text contexts, we found these words appeared in phrases like ‘I hate it when my parents have to put up money for me,’ which actually reflects considerate, agreeable thinking. This showed us that modern AI doesn’t just count words, something that the field have been doing for quite some time—it understands context in remarkably nuanced ways.”</p>
<p>The MBTI dataset, however, told a different story. The models appeared to achieve higher accuracy, but explainability analysis revealed that this was largely due to users explicitly mentioning their types in their posts. When those references were masked, performance dropped sharply, and the remaining top words were often unrelated to personality theory. This supported the researchers’ hypothesis that the MBTI results were inflated by self-referential content rather than genuine psychological markers.</p>
<p>The study also exposed demographic and contextual biases in the data. For instance, many top words in both datasets reflected college life, suggesting that the models were learning patterns tied to the specific populations who contributed the text, rather than universal markers of personality.</p>
<p>“The key takeaway is that AI can indeed detect genuine personality signals in natural language, but the quality of results depends heavily on the data used to train these systems,” the researchers told PsyPost. “When we analyzed the widely-used Essays dataset, we found that AI models identified words and language patterns that genuinely align with personality theory—for instance, associating words like ‘sorority’ and ‘fun’ with extraversion.”</p>
<p>“However, when we examined the popular MBTI dataset, we discovered the models were essentially ‘cheating’ by relying on people explicitly mentioning their personality types rather than detecting subtle linguistic cues. This highlights that while the technology is promising, we need to be critical consumers of AI personality assessments and ensure they’re based on high-quality, unbiased data. In sum, the machine should work hand-in-hand with the researcher.”</p>
<p>Limitations of the study include the restricted range of text types analyzed and the reliance on pre-existing datasets with their own biases. The Essays dataset, for example, forces personality into binary categories, which may oversimplify the continuous nature of traits. The MBTI dataset suffers from self-selection bias and overrepresentation of personality jargon.</p>
<p>“First, our study used datasets where personality traits were artificially divided into high/low categories, which doesn’t reflect the reality that personality exists on a continuum (usually, from 1 to 100 depending on the scale),” the researchers said. “Second, the Essays dataset comes from college students writing stream-of-consciousness pieces, which may not capture nuances of personality expression that would appear in other contexts like social media or professional communication.”</p>
<p>“Most importantly, while our AI models showed promising theory-coherent results, we still need external validation—connecting these linguistic patterns to real-world behaviors and outcomes. Think of this as an important step forward in making AI personality assessment more transparent and scientifically grounded, but not the final word on the technology’s capabilities.”</p>
<p>Future research will need to test these methods on more diverse and naturalistic language sources, from social media posts to professional communications, and across different languages and cultures. The team also sees promise in combining text analysis with other behavioral data to build more robust personality assessment tools.</p>
<p>“We’re working toward making AI personality assessment both more accurate and more accountable,” the researchers explained. “Our next steps include developing objective, data-driven methods to evaluate explainability results rather than relying on human interpretation. We also want to test these approaches on different types of text—social media posts, professional communications, different languages and cultures—to see how personality expression varies across contexts.</p>
<p>“Ultimately, we envision integrating multiple data sources beyond just text, including behavioral patterns and other digital traces, to create more comprehensive and robust personality assessment tools that could enhance personalized AI assistants, educational systems, and mental health applications.”</p>
<p>“This research represents a crucial shift from simply asking ‘Can AI detect personality?’ to asking ‘How does AI detect personality, and is it doing so for the right reasons?’ By making AI decision-making transparent, we’re not just advancing the technology—we’re ensuring it aligns with decades of personality psychology research.</p>
<p>“Our work also serves as a cautionary tale about popular but scientifically questionable frameworks like the MBTI, not all that glitters is gold and most of the times, we should make interdisciplinary efforts to give properly nuanced answers to social science questions,” the researchers added. “While these systems might seem to work well based on accuracy metrics, our explainability analysis revealed they often rely on superficial cues rather than genuine psychological insights. This interdisciplinary approach—combining computer science methodologies with psychological theory—is essential for developing AI systems that are both powerful and trustworthy.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323096" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Text speaks louder: Insights into personality from natural language processing</a>,” was authored by David Saeteros, David Gallardo-Pujol, and Daniel Ortiz-Martínez.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/ketamines-paradox-life-changing-therapy-for-some-devastating-addiction-for-others/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Ketamine’s paradox: Life-changing therapy for some, devastating addiction for others</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 8th 2025, 18:00</div>
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<p><p><a href="https://www.psypost.org/exclusive/drugs/ketamine/">Ketamine’s</a> rising popularity has created a paradox. While it’s hailed by some doctors as a breakthrough psychiatric treatment, it’s also driving a surge in addiction and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/11/ketamine-clinics-us-business-safety-mental-health">harming people’s health</a>. To better understand people’s experience of ketamine and how it might be best used in medical treatment, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.70073">we surveyed</a> hundreds of people who self-identify as struggling with ketamine addiction.</p>
<p>Ketamine is gaining recognition as a promising, rapid-acting intervention for <a href="https://theconversation.com/ketamine-can-rapidly-reduce-symptoms-of-ptsd-and-depression-new-study-finds-216077">mental health conditions</a> for many. <a href="https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-health-and-life-sciences/largest-ever-trial-of-ketamine-assisted-therapy-for-alcohol-disorder-now-recruiting/">Phase three clinical trials are now underway</a> for its use with people with alcohol problems. A <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-ketamine-nasal-spray-will-be-subsidised-for-treatment-resistant-depression-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-spravato-255403">ketamine-based nasal spray</a>, Spravato, has also been approved as a standalone therapy for treatment-resistant depression,</p>
<p>But for others, particularly recreational users in their 20s, ketamine use can lead to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14740338.2021.1949454">more harm than healing</a>.</p>
<p>Once seen as a fringe party drug, ketamine – also known as “K” – has now entered the mainstream, gaining popularity as a <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/club-drugs.page">nightlife narcotic</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czrgp7pj4g2o">reports of widespread use in Hollywood</a>. But with its rise have come warnings: several high-profile deaths, including actor <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c89wgv98925o">Matthew Perry</a> and drag artist <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgd0x919q4o">The Vivienne</a>, have sparked public concern.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/what-is-ketamine">Medical ketamine</a> is a regulated drug used in hospitals and clinics under professional supervision. Illegal ketamine, often used recreationally, is unregulated, may be contaminated and carries higher risks of overdose, addiction and <a href="https://www.drugs.com/illicit/ketamine.html">health complications</a> due to unknown purity and unsafe use.</p>
<p>To better understand the experience of ketamine addiction and to help inform improved treatments, our research team at the University of Exeter and University College London surveyed 274 people with self-identified ketamine addiction from Europe, North America and Australia**. We believe <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13600443">the results</a> offer the most in-depth data of its kind to date.</p>
<p>While ketamine is <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/08/ketamines-antidepressive-effects-tied-to-opioid-system-in-brain.html">chemically distinct</a> from opioids, some users described its emotional and social toll as equally devastating. One participant described it as “the heroin of a generation”.</p>
<p>This stark characterisation underscores the growing number of people seeking treatment – not only for addiction, but also for physical health complications that can follow heavy, prolonged use.</p>
<p>Sixty percent of respondents <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-68826392">reported bladder problems</a> – a side effect well known among long-term ketamine users, but rarely discussed outside <a href="https://www.ucc-today.com/journals/issue/launch-edition/article/ketamine-bladders-what-community-nurses-should-know-ucct">specialist circles</a>. Many also described <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8715255/">intense psychological symptoms</a> such as cravings, low mood, anxiety and irritability.</p>
<p>While these experiences probably reflect heavier users than the average recreational consumer, they highlight the serious harms experienced by those who become dependent.</p>
<h2>Alarming statistics</h2>
<p>Alarmingly, over a third of our respondents had never sought treatment. Among those who had, only 36% were satisfied with the care they received. One person noted: “I think they need to research drugs or options that fight K bladder, K kidneys and K stomach cramps. Ketamine can make your lifespan much shorter.”</p>
<p>A recurring theme throughout the survey responses was frustration at the lack of awareness – among peers, educators, healthcare providers and even addiction specialists – about ketamine’s risks.</p>
<p>“No one even understands what ketamine is or what it does,” said one participant. They added: “It shouldn’t be our job to explain the science. It should be taught. People need to be educated. There’s so much less information out there compared to drugs like cocaine.”</p>
<p>Most participants had first encountered ketamine in recreational settings. Only four participants first encountered it through prescription, primarily in the United States, where at-home ketamine therapy is becoming more common. In contrast, the UK restricts ketamine use to clinical supervision.</p>
<p>Crucially, the doses reported by participants were far higher than those used in medical settings. Rapid tolerance development and escalating use were common concerns.</p>
<h2>New treatment strategies</h2>
<p>To support those struggling with ketamine addiction, our findings point to the urgent need for new treatment strategies. These include pharmacological options to address physical complications like <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11326070/">“K cramps”</a> (severe abdominal pain often described as excruciating) and improved understanding of how ketamine <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4544340/">causes bladder and kidney damage</a>.</p>
<p>Equally vital is improving education – both for the public and for healthcare professionals – about the risks of ketamine use and the realities of addiction. We hope our survey offers a platform for those with experience to be heard and for their voices to shape future research, clinical care and public health messaging.</p>
<p>This survey comes at a crucial time in ketamine’s evolving story. In response to rising recreational use and recent fatalities, the UK government is <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8306prgy6o">reportedly considering reclassifying</a> ketamine as a Class A drug. However, when ketamine was reclassified from Class C to Class B in 2014, use among 16–24-year-olds <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-harms-assessment-of-ketamine-commissioning-letter/updated-harms-assessment-of-ketamine-commissioning-letter">increased by 231%</a>, suggesting that harsher penalties do little to curb demand.</p>
<p>Instead of relying on punitive measures, we must focus on expanding treatment access, reducing stigma and investing in prevention. Our study shows the urgent need for more research into what makes ketamine addictive, how to prevent its physical harms and, most importantly, how to help people recover and reclaim their lives.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/255197/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
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<p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-shrinking-bladders-to-severe-stomach-pain-survey-reveals-the-painful-realities-of-ketamine-addiction-255197">original article</a>.</em></p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/childhood-trauma-tied-to-sexual-narcissism-and-hypersexual-behavior/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Childhood trauma tied to sexual narcissism and hypersexual behavior</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 8th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>A study conducted in Israel found that higher levels of childhood trauma were associated with heightened sexual narcissism and hypersexual behavior. Statistical analysis indicated that sexual narcissism may mediate the link between childhood trauma and hypersexual behavior. The paper was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03137-y"><em>Archives of Sexual Behavior</em></a>.</p>
<p>Hypersexual behavior refers to unusually frequent or intense sexual thoughts, urges, or actions that can interfere with daily life. It may include excessive masturbation, compulsive use of pornography, frequent pursuit of casual sex, or persistent sexual preoccupation. While high sexual desire alone is not necessarily problematic, hypersexual behavior becomes a concern when it causes distress, relationship issues, or other harmful consequences.</p>
<p>Some individuals use sexual activity as a coping mechanism for stress, anxiety, depression, or trauma. Hypersexuality can occur as a symptom of certain mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder, especially during manic episodes. It can also be associated with substance use, impulsivity, and poor emotional regulation. Not everyone who engages in hypersexual behavior meets the criteria for a mental disorder, and a diagnosis typically requires that the behavior is persistent, distressing, and difficult to control. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with compulsive sexual behavior, though definitions vary among experts.</p>
<p>Study authors Rotem Yaakov and Aviv Weinstein sought to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and neglect, sexual narcissism, and hypersexual behavior in individuals seeking psychological support for compulsive sexual behavior.</p>
<p>Sexual narcissism is a subtype of narcissism characterized by an inflated sense of sexual self-importance, entitlement, and a lack of empathy for sexual partners. Individuals high in sexual narcissism may view sex primarily as a means to boost their ego or gain power rather than as an expression of intimacy. They tend to overestimate their sexual abilities and seek frequent validation of their desirability. Such individuals may also be manipulative in sexual relationships, using charm or coercion to achieve their goals.</p>
<p>Study participants were 118 individuals from Israel. Half were classified as meeting the criteria for compulsive sexual behavior, while the other half were not. The average age of participants was around 31–32 years, and 72 participants were men.</p>
<p>Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing hypersexual behavior (Hypersexual Behavior Inventory), sexual narcissism (Sexual Narcissism Scale), and childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire).</p>
<p>Results showed that the group with compulsive sexual behavior scored higher not only on hypersexual behavior but also on measures of childhood trauma and sexual narcissism. Men scored somewhat higher than women on hypersexual behavior, but there were no significant sex differences in sexual narcissism or trauma. Among participants with compulsive sexual behavior, religious individuals scored higher on sexual narcissism and hypersexual behavior than their non-religious counterparts.</p>
<p>Further analysis suggested that childhood trauma was linked to higher sexual narcissism, which in turn was linked to increased hypersexual behavior. Statistical modeling supported the possibility that sexual narcissism serves as a mediating factor between childhood trauma and hypersexual behavior.</p>
<p>“In summary, this study indicates that sexual narcissism mediated the relationships between childhood trauma and hypersexual behavior. These findings explain the role of sexual narcissism and childhood maltreatment and abuse in hypersexual behavior and it may have clinical implications for the treatment of CSB [compulsive sexual behavior] disorder,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the consequences of childhood abuse. However, all the data were collected using self-reports and childhood abuse was assessed retrospectively i.e., based on current memories of participants. This leaves room for reporting bias and recall bias to affect the results.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03137-y">A Study on Childhood Trauma and Sexual Narcissism in Individuals with Compulsive Sexual Behavior Receiving Counseling</a>,” was authored by Rotem Yaakov and Aviv Weinstein.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/populism-may-act-as-a-thermometer-for-democratic-health/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Populism may act as a “thermometer” for democratic health</a>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.70058" target="_blank">Political Psychology</a></em> suggests that citizens’ populist attitudes are not fixed traits but instead shift over time, with changes often linked to how people view the performance of their country’s democracy. The findings imply that populist beliefs may act as a kind of “thermometer,” reflecting perceived democratic quality rather than remaining stable regardless of political conditions.</p>
<p><a href="https://cevipol.phisoc.ulb.be/en/researchers/postdoctoral-researchers/marie-theuwis" target="_blank">Marie-Isabel Theuwis</a>, a postdoctoral researcher at the Université libre de Bruxelles, set out to better understand whether populist attitudes can actually change, and if so, what drives those changes. </p>
<p>Populism is a political approach that frames society as divided into two opposing groups: “the pure people” and “the corrupt elite.” It argues that politics should directly reflect the will of the people, often rejecting established representative institutions and compromises. Populist rhetoric can come from across the political spectrum, with leaders or movements portraying themselves as the true voice of ordinary citizens against an untrustworthy establishment.</p>
<p>Many political scientists view populism among citizens as a challenge for liberal democracies because it rejects representative decision-making in favor of direct control by “the people.” Some have proposed reforms to make political systems more inclusive and responsive in hopes of reducing populist discontent. But until now, it has been unclear whether such reforms could realistically influence citizens’ beliefs—or whether those beliefs are essentially locked in.</p>
<p>“Populism amongst citizens usually goes hand in hand with a sense of democratic dissatisfaction,” Theuwis explained. “I therefore study how changes in our democratic system affect our populist sentiments. A crucial piece in this research puzzle is to understand whether our populist attitudes are even changeable over time or if they represent a stable political disposition, and, if they do change, to explore why they would change.”</p>
<p>For her study, Theuwis analyzed two large panel datasets that tracked the same individuals over nearly four years: one from the Netherlands, which included 16 survey waves between 2020 and 2023, and one from Great Britain, which included six waves between 2016 and 2020. Both countries regularly measured populist attitudes using the same survey items, allowing for cross-national comparisons. The two political systems differ sharply—Britain’s is a majoritarian system dominated by a few parties, while the Netherlands has a highly proportional system with many parties—offering a chance to see if populist beliefs behave differently under these conditions.</p>
<p>The study measured populist attitudes with questions assessing agreement with statements such as “The politicians in Parliament need to follow the will of the people” and “What people call ‘compromise’ in politics is really just selling out on one’s principles.” Responses were averaged to produce a score from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). </p>
<p>In addition to tracking these scores over time, Theuwis also measured variables that could influence them. These included satisfaction with democracy, satisfaction with the economy, and whether the respondent’s preferred party was in government—all indicators of perceived political performance. She also used indirect measures of “receptiveness to populist cues,” such as liking for a populist political leader and attachment to a populist party.</p>
<p>The statistical approach relied on latent growth curve models, which make it possible to assess how attitudes change within individuals over time and how those changes align with shifts in other variables. By comparing results to benchmark attitudes—political ideology, which is typically stable, and government satisfaction, which tends to fluctuate—Theuwis could determine where populist attitudes fall on the stability spectrum.</p>
<p>The results showed that populist attitudes are neither highly stable nor wildly volatile. In both Britain and the Netherlands, they changed more than political ideology but less than satisfaction with the government. The best-fitting statistical models indicated that changes were not gradual and linear but fluctuated over time, suggesting that shifts can occur in response to particular events or circumstances.</p>
<p>“Much like the temperature, our populist attitudes fluctuate over time,” Theuwis told PsyPost. “Changes in our satisfaction with democracy are associated with changes in our populist attitudes. This means that we should keep on trying to improve our democracies, since populist attitudes seem receptive to changes in the political system’s performance.”</p>
<p>When it came to what drives these shifts, patterns varied by country. In the Netherlands, changes in populist attitudes were consistently tied to changes in how people rated their democracy and, to a lesser extent, the economy. When satisfaction with democratic functioning or economic conditions improved, populist attitudes tended to decrease. </p>
<p>In Britain, democratic satisfaction also predicted changes in populist attitudes, but there was an added effect from supply-side influences. People who grew more attached to populist parties or expressed warmer feelings toward populist politicians were more likely to see their populist attitudes rise in subsequent surveys.</p>
<p>This difference may reflect the political contexts of each country. Britain’s majoritarian system and the high-profile Brexit campaign may have amplified the ability of populist leaders and parties to shape citizens’ views. In the Netherlands, with its multiparty system, shifts in political performance evaluations may play a larger role.</p>
<p>Overall, the study’s most consistent finding across both countries was that changes in democratic satisfaction were linked to changes in populist attitudes. This supports the idea that citizens’ populist beliefs partly reflect their evaluations of how well their democracy is functioning, rather than being fixed personality-driven worldviews.</p>
<p>Theuwis notes that the findings have implications for efforts to address populist discontent. If populist attitudes respond to perceived improvements in democratic quality, reforms that make political systems more inclusive, responsive, and representative could reduce the appeal of populist messages. At the same time, the study highlights the need to better understand the interplay between citizens’ beliefs and political events, as the relationship may work both ways—dissatisfaction can drive populism, but populist sentiment might also deepen democratic discontent.</p>
<p>The research does have limitations. It relied on proxy measures for exposure to populist cues, which may underestimate their influence, and it focused on just two countries. The time gaps between survey waves also mean it may have missed shorter-term shifts. </p>
<p>“I study the average change: not everybody’s populist attitudes behave the same. For some citizens, their populist attitudes remain stable, while for others, they change a lot over time.<br>
I explored only some of many possible drivers of populist attitudes change. These other drivers are still left to explore.”</p>
<p>Future studies could track attitudes at more frequent intervals, test other potential drivers such as perceptions of corruption or social inequality, and explore whether populist attitudes change differently in countries where populist parties move in and out of government.</p>
<p>“In a study linked to this research (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773923000413" target="_blank">Theuwis & Kindt, 2024</a>), with my colleague Rosa Kindt we assess whether processes that involve citizens more in democratic decision-making actually affect their populist attitudes,” Theuwis added. “We find that highly populist citizens become less populist after participation in such a participatory process. Then, in another study (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217241273590" target="_blank">Theuwis, 2025</a>), I explore why such processes affect our populist attitudes, and what this means for how we should improve our democratic systems. I find that highly populist citizens pay special attention to whether authorities take citizens seriously. They want the political process to be inclusive and for citizens to have a visible impact on policy-making.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.70058" target="_blank">Taking democracy’s temperature: The (in)stability and covariates of populist attitudes</a>,” was published July 4, 2025.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/melatonin-supplements-may-boost-dna-repair-in-night-shift-workers-new-study-finds/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Melatonin supplements may boost DNA repair in night shift workers, new study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Aug 8th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>Night shift workers who took melatonin supplements before sleeping during the day showed signs of improved DNA repair, according to a new randomized controlled trial published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2024-109824" target="_blank">Occupational & Environmental Medicine</a></em>. The findings suggest that melatonin—a hormone involved in regulating sleep and circadian rhythms—could help counteract some of the biological stress caused by working at night, including the body’s reduced ability to fix oxidative DNA damage.</p>
<p>The study was led by distinguished scientist Parveen Bhatti and colleagues at the BC Cancer Research Institute, the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and Duke University. Their work builds on previous research showing that night shift workers have lower levels of melatonin and lower urinary concentrations of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG)—a marker that reflects the body’s ability to repair DNA damage caused by oxidative stress. Since cancer risk may be elevated when DNA repair is impaired, the researchers wanted to test whether supplementing melatonin could reverse that decline.</p>
<p>“When considering the millions of people worldwide who work night shifts, the associated negative health effects—including an increased risk of cancer—represent a significant public health concern,” explained Bhatti. “My research focuses on uncovering the underlying biological mechanisms through which night shift work impacts health.” </p>
<p>“By gaining a deeper understanding of these processes, we can develop more effective strategies to safeguard the long-term well-being of night shift workers. Through my earlier research, I observed that night shift workers weren’t as effectively repairing oxidative DNA damage, a type of DNA damage that contributes to occurrence of cancer, and this seemed to be tied to the low levels of melatonin they were producing.”</p>
<p>To investigate this, the researchers recruited 40 adults in the Vancouver area who worked night shifts. Participants had to meet several health and occupational criteria, including working at least two consecutive night shifts per week for at least six months. Individuals with chronic medical conditions or a history of melatonin use were excluded.</p>
<p>Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one received melatonin supplements and the other received a placebo. Each participant took their assigned capsule one hour before going to sleep during the day after a night shift, continuing the routine for four weeks. The researchers collected data and biological samples both before and after the intervention to measure changes in sleep quality, fatigue, melatonin levels, and oxidative DNA damage.</p>
<p>To assess DNA repair capacity, the researchers collected urine from each participant during their day sleep and subsequent night shift, both before and during the intervention period. These urine samples were analyzed for 8-OH-dG levels, which increase when DNA damage is effectively identified and repaired. The samples were also tested for a compound called 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s), a marker of circulating melatonin.</p>
<p>The researchers found that taking melatonin led to a borderline statistically significant increase in urinary 8-OH-dG levels during day sleep. On average, melatonin users had a 1.8-fold increase in 8-OH-dG excretion compared to those who took a placebo. This suggests a greater capacity for DNA repair during the daytime sleep period, when melatonin levels are normally suppressed by exposure to light. The effect was more pronounced when participants with low melatonin levels were excluded from the analysis, suggesting that individuals who absorb or respond to melatonin better may benefit more.</p>
<p>“The results of the study indicate that taking a melatonin supplement can improve oxidative DNA damage repair among night shift workers,” Bhatti told PsyPost.</p>
<p>However, no meaningful increase in 8-OH-dG was observed during the night shift itself. This might be because the melatonin taken before day sleep had largely worn off by the time participants returned to work, or because light exposure during the night shift suppressed natural melatonin production. Circulating melatonin levels did rise sharply after supplementation during day sleep, reaching supraphysiological levels in most participants, but these levels dropped significantly by the time participants were back on the job.</p>
<p>Sleep patterns were also monitored using wrist-worn actigraphs, and participants rated their sleepiness using a standard scale. Melatonin had no statistically significant effect on daytime sleep duration or on sleepiness during night work, although there was a small decrease in the time participants spent awake after initially falling asleep during the day. This finding suggests that melatonin may modestly improve sleep continuity during the day, but not enough to change how long people slept or how alert they felt during their next shift.</p>
<p>While the findings support the idea that melatonin can improve oxidative DNA damage repair during daytime sleep, the authors caution that their study had some limitations. The sample size was small, and most participants worked in healthcare or social assistance roles, which may limit how broadly the results apply. The study also did not control for participants’ light exposure or other potential influences on melatonin production, nor did it assess long-term outcomes.</p>
<p>“We conducted a small-scale, short-term trial,” Bhatti noted. “There is a lot more research that needs to be done before we can recommend that night shift workers take melatonin supplements to reduce their risk of developing cancer.”</p>
<p>The researchers also pointed out that the effect of melatonin was highly variable between individuals. While most people in the melatonin group saw large increases in circulating melatonin levels during day sleep, a few did not—suggesting that absorption or metabolism may differ from person to person. When those with the lowest measured melatonin levels were excluded, the increase in 8-OH-dG excretion became statistically significant, indicating that individual biology plays a role in how well melatonin works.</p>
<p>“A key issue with melatonin supplements is that there is a lot of variation between people in the amount of melatonin that actually gets into their circulation,” Bhatti explained. “Two people can take the exact same dose of melatonin but then end up with very different amounts circulating in their blood. So, depending on the dose that is given, some night shift workers may not experience any benefit.”</p>
<p>Although melatonin is widely available and often used for sleep issues, very few trials have looked at its potential for protecting against long-term health risks associated with night shift work. This study is among the first to directly test whether melatonin can counteract a specific biological pathway involved in cancer development.</p>
<p>“The findings of the study were quite compelling, but we need much larger-scale studies with longer follow-up periods to determine the efficacy of melatonin supplementation,” Bhatti said. “In addition, future studies should evaluate multiple different doses of melatonin; we only evaluated the impacts of a 3 mg dose.” </p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2024-109824" target="_blank">Melatonin supplementation and oxidative DNA damage repair capacity among night shift workers: a randomised placebo-controlled trial</a>,” was authored by Umaimah Zanif, Agnes S. Lai, Jaclyn Parks, Aina Roenningen, Christopher B. McLeod, Najib Ayas, Xiangtian Wang, Yan Lin, Junfeng (Jim) Zhang, and Parveen Bhatti.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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