
Set and setting, when referring to a
psychedelic drug experience or the use of other
psychoactive substances, means one's mindset (shortened to "set") and the physical and social environment (the "setting") in which the user has the experience.
Set and setting are factors that can condition the effects of psychoactive substances: "Set" refers to the mental state a person brings to the experience, like thoughts, mood and expectations; "
setting" to the physical and social environment. This is especially relevant for
psychedelic experiences in either a therapeutic or recreational context.
History
According to the 2018 book ''
How to Change Your Mind'' by
Michael Pollan, the concept of set and setting was observed by the "Johnny Appleseed" of LSD,
Al Hubbard, visiting mushroom ceremonies in Mexico. The terms were used at least as early as 1958 by
Ludwig von Bertalanffy
Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy (19 September 1901 – 12 June 1972) was an Austrian biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST). This is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, app ...
and popularized by
Timothy Leary in 1961, and became widely accepted by researchers in
psychedelic therapy.
Norman Zinberg also extensively discussed this in ''Drug, Set, and Setting: The Basis for Controlled Intoxicant Use'' (1984).
Due to the importance of setting in early
psychedelic therapy, Hubbard introduced a "treatment space decorated to feel more like a home than a hospital", which came to be known as a "Hubbard Room".
In 1966, Timothy Leary conducted a series of experiments with
dimethyltryptamine
Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), also known as ''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (''N'',''N''-DMT), is a Psychedelic drug, serotonergic hallucinogen and Investigational New Drug, investigational drug of the substituted tryptamine, tryptamine family tha ...
(DMT) with controlled set and setting. The aim was to see whether DMT, which had then been mostly thought of as a terror-inducing drug, could produce pleasant experiences under a supportive set and setting. It was found that it could.
Set and setting has also been investigated from a religious perspective.
The concept of set and setting has more recently been extended beyond psychedelics. Zinberg "sought to integrate the ideas of set and setting into a theory of harm reduction which examined not only psychedelic use but also drugs such as
alcohol
Alcohol may refer to:
Common uses
* Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds
* Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life
** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages
** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
,
cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
, and
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
"
and, more recently, the concept has been used to understand the circumstances of
opioid overdoses.
Practice
Social support networks have shown to be particularly important in the outcome of the psychedelic experience. They are able to control or guide the course of the experience, both consciously and subconsciously. Stress, fear, a disagreeable material, social, and cultural environment, including situations of racism or discrimination, may result in an unpleasant experience (
bad trip
A bad trip (also known as challenging experiences, acute intoxication from hallucinogens, psychedelic crisis, or emergence phenomenon) is an acute adverse psychological reaction to the effects of Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substances, namely ...
). Conversely, a relaxed, curious person in a warm, comfortable and safe place is more likely to have a pleasant experience.
Research has shown that a curated
music playlist can be part of a favourable setting. Set and setting are critical in the design of psychiatric facilities and modalities of
psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies.
See also
*
Altered state of consciousness
An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called an altered state of mind, altered mental status (AMS) or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. It describes induced changes in one's me ...
*
Counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is ofte ...
*
Responsible drug use
Responsible drug use seeks to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks associated with psychoactive drug use. For illegal psychoactive drugs that are not diverted prescription controlled substances, some critics believe that illegal recreationa ...
*
Sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing, while more complex devices can ...
*
Trip sitter
*
Out-of-body experience
An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is a phenomenon in which a person perceives the world as if from a location outside their physical body. An OBE is a form of autoscopy (literally "seeing self"), although this term is more common ...
References
Further reading
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{{Timothy Leary, state=collapsed
Drug culture
Timothy Leary