"Quiet quitting" is becoming more popular for employees who don't work extra hard, as they are often more inclined to pursue a healthier work-life balance. Now, new research has uncovered a curious link between the use of psilocybin, the fast-acting substance in psychedelic mushrooms, and a reduction in employee overtime. These findings shed new light on the relationship between psychedelic substances and work-life Xi.
Psilocybin is a psychoplastic substance that promotes rapid and sustained neuroplasticity in the brain. When ingested by the compound, the body converts it into psilocin, which is structurally similar to serotonin, a neurotransmitter that controls a person's mood and plays an important role in our sense of well-being. Just as this compound has long been used for its hallucinogenic properties, especially its ability to produce hallucinations, researchers are now increasingly interested in its potential therapeutic benefits for those suffering from anxiety and depression. But despite the strong interest, few studies have explored the effects of these compounds on everyday life. In particular, few studies have considered how the use of psilocybin might affect work Xi — more specifically, whether there is a relationship between the drug and "quiet resignation."
"Many scientific studies have shown that hallucinogenic drug use is on the rise in the United States, and some media reports have reported that employee use is on the rise. Based on this, I was motivated to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of psychedelic drug use on organizations and employee groups," said Benjamin J. J., a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz. A. Coleman told PsyPost . .
For the study, Coleman used publicly available data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Survey respondents were randomly selected from across the United States. In total, more than 217,000 individuals aged 18 and over with full-time employment were assessed between 2002 and 2004.
Coleman used "to date psilocybin" as an independent variable to classify the participants, which would result in those who had used the compound at least once and those who had never used it before. And the dependent variable for this study was "overtime worked in the past week." This is calculated as any time worked in excess of 40 hours, based on the requirements of the U.S. Department of Labor, which requires additional overtime pay for each additional hour worked in excess of this number. ️
The study also included several other variables, including participants' age, education level, gender, marital status, industry category, annual income, participation in self-reported risk behaviors, and lifetime use of other substances (including cocaine, marijuana, stimulants, sedatives, PCP, ecstasy, and heroin).
Before Coleman considered these variables, it appeared that the use of psilocybin to date was actually positively correlated with an increase in overtime work. However, once these factors are taken into account, the correlation essentially reverses and the correlation becomes negative.
"The results showed that lifetime use of psilocybin was associated with a reduction of approximately 0.06 hours (or 3.60 minutes) per employee per week," Coleman wrote in the study.
Coleman found that hallucinogenic drugs were used at a higher rate in well-educated men than in the general population. These individuals tend to work in industries that are more likely to require overtime work. Once this was confirmed, Coleman was able to control for these factors, which explained the abrupt change in results.
In general, those who have tried psilocybin at least once in their lives have about 3.60 minutes less per week than non-users. At first glance, this may seem small, but it makes all the more significant when you consider that this behavior exists among the 15 million full-time employees in the United States.
"Based on the study's findings, it is estimated that 44,348,400 overtime hours per year were lost to the full-time employee population in the U.S. as a result of the employee's lifetime use of psilocybin," Coleman wrote.
While this finding may have initially been interpreted as costly for the organization, it may help explain why the lifelong use of psilocybin by employees has recently been linked to reduced sick leave. ”
But before everyone rushes to change their work Xi by using psychedelics, it's worth pointing out that this study has its limitations. First and foremost, this study did not establish a causal relationship – that is, that taking this compound automatically leads to the occurrence of behavior. Second, the data used was quite old, as employee data from 2015 onwards was not available for analysis. Therefore, this information may not represent current trends related to psychedelic substance use or work Xi.
However, this study demonstrates the need to consider the relationship between psychedelic compounds and employment and work-life balance when considering their use. More information is needed, especially in relation to the user's motivation – whether it is for treatment or recreation.
The study has been published in the Journal of Hallucinogenic Drugs.