Over the last 40+ years I have wondered, “What percentage of people are experiencing personally transformative spiritual experiences?” Since these experiences have previously been seen as possible hallucinations or delusions indicative of psychosis, relatively few people have felt comfortable reporting about them to surveys–even friends and family–for fear of being perceived as mentally ill.
Currently, as plant medicine and psychedelic-assisted therapy and ceremony have become more popular, increasing numbers of individuals are feeling more comfortable in reporting their spiritual experiences. Perhaps the stresses of our times–and the dawning of what some call the Aquarian Age, or Dwapara Yuga (a Vedic term), are also stimulating an expansion of consciousness, and the willingness to talk about it. One result: more people seeking support for spiritually-transformative experiences. IMHU addresses this by offering support via our website, IMHU.org, and trained Spiritual Emergence Coaches®
Spiritual Experiences: The Numbers
Following are numbers quoted by Pew Research in 2025 as well as 2 articles published in 2024:
Religious Landscape Study (Link to original) First published online: February 26, 2025
Spiritual experiences
How often do Americans think about spiritual matters or feel moved in spiritual ways? Large majorities of U.S. adults say they experience various kinds of spiritual thoughts and feelings at least several times a year, according to the new Religious Landscape Study (RLS).
For example, 93% of U.S. adults say that they feel a sense of awe at the beauty of nature several times a year or more often. This includes 61% who say they experience this feeling at least once a week.,,
Nearly as many (91%) say they feel a strong sense of gratitude or thankfulness at least several times a year, including 62% who report feeling deeply grateful on a weekly basis or more often. Large shares of Americans also say they think about the meaning and purpose of life at least several times a year (84%) and feel a deep sense of wonder about the universe (80%) that often.
Smaller majorities of U.S. adults say they feel a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being (74%), a deep sense of connection with humanity (72%), or the presence of something from beyond this world (61%) several times a year or more often.
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Wright, MJ; Galante, J; Corneille, JS; Grabovac, A; Ingram, DM; Sacchet, MD. (2024)
Altered States of Consciousness are Prevalent and Insufficiently Supported Clinically: A Population Survey.
Mindfulness, 2024 15:1162–1175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-024-02356-z
This article reports:
“Forty-five percent of participants in an international study reported experiencing non-pharmacologically induced EP (emergent phenomena) at least once in their lives, including derealization (17%), unitive experiences (15%), ecstatic thrills (15%), vivid perceptions (11%), changes in perceived size (10%), bodily heat or electricity (9%), out-of-body experiences (8%), and perception of non-physical lights (5%). Respondents reported a mix of positive and negative well-being outcomes following EP, with 13% claiming moderate or greater suffering and 1.1% claiming life-threatening suffering. Of those who experienced suffering, 63% did not seek help.
Conclusions
EP are widespread among the studied populations with potential for both positive and negative outcomes, the latter of which do not appear to be adequately addressed through recourse to clinical practice.”
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A follow up article (below) notes the high number of people reporting spiritual emergence phenomena and the need to find a universal language for healthcare providers to adopt in order to address the needs for supporting those disturbed by their spiritual experiences.
Sandilands, O., & Ingram, D. M. (2024) Documenting and Defining Emergent Phenomenology: Theoretical Foundations for an Extensive Research Strategy. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1340335.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1340335/full