Speaker Bio
Born in USSR, raised in Ukraine, having lived in many countries, Iryana calls herself a world citizen. After 2 university degrees & a corporate employment in her twenties, she fulfilled her dream of a journey around the world blogging about music festivals. One festival every weekend for a year on 6 continents – her project Raverglueck turned out to be a success on many levels. During this journey she got experientially initiated into altered states of consciousness, which led to a transformational process and changed the trajectory of her life path. She has spent the last 5 years exploring the world of psychedelic substances, yoga & meditation from different angles, practically & theoretically. Today she is sharing her experience and knowledge with people interested in mindfulness practices and personal growth as a coach and yoga & meditation teacher. Just recently she moved from Berlin to London to pursue further education in the areas of her passion - psychology and psychotherapy. Her main research interests involve psychedelics, recreational settings as well as the phenomenon of addictions. She is actively engaged with diverse psycare and harm reduction services in active care for festival guests going through challenging experiences.
ICPR 2024 Abstract
Recreational use of psychedelics at music festivals: motivation, nature of experiences and learnings
The present research study investigated the phenomenon of recreational use of psychedelics at music festivals, in the light of the question whether the resulting experiences could possibly be recognized as valuable in terms of preventive mental health strategies. Quantitative (online survey) & qualitative (interviews) research methods have been combined to illuminate 3 main topics: motivation for the setting choice; the nature of the resulting experiences & their influence on people’s lives; learnings from psychedelic experiences at music festivals (PEMF).
Among other findings, motivation evolved around fun, enhancing the sensory exploration of the world, and deepening the connection to its diverse parts through engagement with art, nature & other beings. Factors, distinguishing music festivals from other settings, were significant for the setting choice (non-controllability of the environment, community & connection aspect, diversity & richness of the surroundings, pharmacological specifics). The mystical PEMF appeared to be surprisingly common. Participants shared the related life-changing effects, centred around altered perception (increased empathy, awareness, acceptance; new perspectives) and adjusted behaviours (increased mindfulness; making different life choices; new approach to relationships). A positive impact of PEMF on mental health and emotional state of the participants was reported, referring to increased levels of happiness, compassion, awe, trust & emotional balance. This study showed that PEMF can support preventive mental health strategies in various ways. Acknowledging this and the existence of potential risks for triggering psychiatric disorders, de-stigmatization of recreational use could help introduce meaningful changes, including substance testing availability, prioritisation of education as well as mandatory welfare & harm reduction services on-site.