Menstrual Cycle Status and the Acute Subjective Psychedelic Experience
Abstract
Background: Individual differences shape the acute subjective psychedelic experience, but menstrual cycle status remains an understudied source of potential variability. Methods: In a longitudinal observational study, 169 participants reported psychedelic use during the two-month study period. Participants were classified by menstrual cycle status during their most intense psychedelic experience: menstruating during the experience (n=15), menstruating but not during the experience (n=60), not menstruating (n=25), and male participants (n=69). Primary analyses examined associations between cycle status and ego dissolution (Ego Dissolution Inventory; EDI), mystical-type experience (Mystical Experience Questionnaire; MEQ), and challenging experience (Challenging Experience Questionnaire; CEQ), adjusting for dose and age. Exploratory analyses examined MEQ and CEQ subscales and post-acute risk of harm to self and others. Results: Participants menstruating during their experience reported higher EDI scores than both those menstruating but not during the experience and male participants (β=−0.89 and −0.68, ps≤.011). Cycle status was not associated with MEQ or CEQ scores. Exploratory analyses found higher physical distress and death subscale scores among participants menstruating during their experience than among those menstruating but not during the experience (β=−0.77 and −0.80, ps≤.005). Risk of post-acute harm to self and others was higher among those menstruating during the experience than among those menstruating regularly but not during the experience (OR=6.41, p=.022). Conclusions: Menstrual cycle timing may be associated with aspects of the acute psychedelic experience, specifically ego dissolution and potentially risk of post-acute harm to self and others. These preliminary findings support further investigation of menstrual cycle status in psychedelic research.
Related
- Music for psilocybin therapy and the temporal arc of psychedelic experience
- Participant experiences and recommendations for psychedelic clinical trials and future treatment delivery: a qualitative study with experts by experience from the Psychedelic Participant Advocacy Network
- Menstrual Cycle Phase-Dependent Lower Extremity Loading Patterns in Adolescent Female Athletes: Implications for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Risk☆
- Relationship between subjective socioeconomic status and depression in Chinese rural adolescents: positive youth development as a moderator
- Parsing inter-individual variability in the digital phenotype across the menstrual cycle
BibTeX
@misc{srivastav2026menstrual,
title = {{Menstrual Cycle Status and the Acute Subjective Psychedelic Experience}},
author = {Alaina Srivastav and Sunjuri Sun and Peter Hendricks and Walter Osika and Cecilia U. D. Stenfors and Sankalp Chaturvedi and Michelle Olofsson and Gabriella Smedfors and Simon Goldberg and Otto Simonsson},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/734yn_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/734yn_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Menstrual Cycle Status and the Acute Subjective Psychedelic Experience
AU - Alaina Srivastav
AU - Sunjuri Sun
AU - Peter Hendricks
AU - Walter Osika
AU - Cecilia U. D. Stenfors
AU - Sankalp Chaturvedi
AU - Michelle Olofsson
AU - Gabriella Smedfors
AU - Simon Goldberg
AU - Otto Simonsson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/734yn_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/734yn_v1/
AB - Background: Individual differences shape the acute subjective psychedelic experience, but menstrual cycle status remains an understudied source of potential variability. Methods: In a longitudinal observational study, 169 participants reported psychedelic use during the two-month study period. Participants were classified by menstrual cycle status during their most intense psychedelic experience: menstruating during the experience (n=15), menstruating but not during the experience (n=60), not menstruating (n=25), and male participants (n=69). Primary analyses examined associations between cycle status and ego dissolution (Ego Dissolution Inventory; EDI), mystical-type experience (Mystical Experience Questionnaire; MEQ), and challenging experience (Challenging Experience Questionnaire; CEQ), adjusting for dose and age. Exploratory analyses examined MEQ and CEQ subscales and post-acute risk of harm to self and others. Results: Participants menstruating during their experience reported higher EDI scores than both those menstruating but not during the experience and male participants (β=−0.89 and −0.68, ps≤.011). Cycle status was not associated with MEQ or CEQ scores. Exploratory analyses found higher physical distress and death subscale scores among participants menstruating during their experience than among those menstruating but not during the experience (β=−0.77 and −0.80, ps≤.005). Risk of post-acute harm to self and others was higher among those menstruating during the experience than among those menstruating regularly but not during the experience (OR=6.41, p=.022). Conclusions: Menstrual cycle timing may be associated with aspects of the acute psychedelic experience, specifically ego dissolution and potentially risk of post-acute harm to self and others. These preliminary findings support further investigation of menstrual cycle status in psychedelic research.
ER -