| الوصف: |
Characteristic traits of sociopathy, like emotion dysregulation, lack of perspective taking and impulsivity, seem to be grounded in early social experiences of abuse/maltreatment and insecure attachment (Yildirim & Derksen, 2013). These characteristics have been related to the maturation and functionality of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), which are strongly regulated by serotonin (Yildirim & Derksen, 2013). This study aims to explore whether some characteristics of sociopathy can be predicted by the use of a potent serotonergic agonist, Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), in the general population. Participants completed emotion regulation, impulsivity, empathy and attachment measures, and answered queries about different aspects of LSD use. Multiple linear regression analyses (n = 81) showed that different LSD use variables predicted attachment-related avoidance (R2 = .26), reappraisal (R2 = .18), personal distress (R2 = .21), empathic concern (R2 = .31), positive urgency (R2 = .23), sensation seeking (R2 = .35), and negative urgency (R2 = .19), with ?s ranging from |0.221| to |0.471|. This study is one first step towards using serotonergic psychedelics for treating sociopathy, but semi-experimental longitudinal studies are needed to tell if the relations found here are causal. If this is true, psychedelics could be used in conjunction with psychotherapy for improving mental health in emotion dysregulation disorders and for preventing further antisocial behaviours in people with sociopathic profiles. Finally, I discuss the implications of these results for Colombia, a country that has been fraught in conflict for more than 50 years. |
