Altered states of consciousness (ASC) represent a universal human capacity for accessing and transforming the subconscious mind, employed across cultures and millennia through diverse contemplative, somatic, pharmacological, ritual, and technological modalities. This comprehensive review synthesizes evidence from over 25 distinct disciplines spanning five cl...
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has been well-researched within scientific literature, although the therapeutic value of psilocybin is not fully understood. The aim of this systematic review is to determine a stable and effective dosage unit to inform health professionals of the benefits of psilocybin, using peer-reviewed literature and meta-analysis. T...
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent distressing thoughts and substantial anxiety, accompanied by repetitive behaviors or mental rituals. Individuals with OCD often have diminished quality of life, and functional impairment. The disorder cause high personal, societal and economic costs. Current availab...
Supplement 1. Additional tables presenting primary and secondary outcomes, sensitivity analyses, and exploratory findings. Table A1. ITT analyses for QIDS-SR-16 and MBI-HSS-MP. Table A2. Adjusted ITT analyses for QIDS-SR-16 and MBI-HSS-MP. Table B1. Intent-To-Treat (ITT) Analysis for Demoralization Scale (DSII) and PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Table B2....
Psychedelics, such as LSD and psilocybin, disrupt entrenched cognitive patterns by facilitating novel insights and new associations. This paper considers how AI can potentially mimic these psychedelic-induced cognitive disruptions to augment and enhance human creativity. Psychedelics likely enhance creativity by altering brain function, notably the activity ...
This thesis explores the psychosocial mechanisms underlying therapeutic responses to psychedelic interventions, advancing an enactive biopsychosocial perspective that foregrounds dynamic and reciprocal causal relationships between biological, psychological, and social processes. While clinical studies increasingly demonstrate the efficacy of serotonergic psy...
Psychiatric disorders are marked by habitual patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, and many mental health disorders are resistant to standard treatments (1)(2)(3)(4). For example, symptoms of major depressive disorder include ruminative negative thoughts, pervasive sadness, and lack of goaldirected behavior (5)(6)(7). Similarly, many anxiety and trauma...
Psychedelic medicine has existed for thousands of years as a traditional, sacred practice and is now in varying stages of legalization for clinical application in the United States. PsychedelicAssisted Therapy uses specific psychoactive substances to facilitate altered states of consciousness in which clients have access to unconscious material and there is ...
Background: Negative perceptions of psilocybin and challenges of participant enrollment may represent barriers to conducting a randomized controlled trial examining psilocybin for chronic neuropathic pain. Aim: Prior to trial initiation, we aimed to examine patient attitudes toward the trial via a prospective preference assessment. Methods: Twenty-six patien...
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious eating disorder (ED) with high rates of mortality and chronicity. Given the ambivalence towards engaging in treatment and recovery that is characteristic of this condition, the identification of novel treatment avenues that can target motivation and demonstrate superior efficacy to existing treatment options is desperately ...
Disorders of consciousness (DoC), including the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and the minimally conscious state (MCS), have limited treatment options. Recent research suggests that psychedelic drugs, known for their complexity-enhancing properties, could be promising treatments for DoC. This study uses whole-brain computational models to explore th...
Abstract A review of the literature on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggests it to be a complex disorder with many contributing factors. The concept of PTSD has continued to evolve over time. A diagnosis of PTSD may be hard to get right. Studies suggest a wide variation in its presentation and diagnostic stability. It is tempting to explore the possi...
The psychoanalytic journey and the psilocybin journey both reveal unconscious dynamics. In this article a psychoanalyst discusses his own psilocybin journey. Similarities and differences between these journeys are discussed. Possibilities are offered for a dialogue in which psilocybin may contribute to psychoanalytic understanding and psychoanalysis may cont...
This paper argues that practitioners of psychedelic-assisted therapy could learn a great deal from Deleuze and Guattari’s critique of psychoanalysis in Anti-Oedipus, as well as the practice of materialist psychiatry - schizoanalysis - that they offer in its stead. Much of the clinical research on psychedelics (particularly psilocybin) over the past fifteen y...
‘Why is psychedelic culture dominated by privileged white men?’ asks historian Mike Jay, referring to a recent study of psychedelic users who are more than likely to be college-educated white males.1 This appears logical, given the figureheads (such as Timothy Leary) who attained cult-like status half a century ago. Many today continue to view psychedelics a...
in this time of ever ascendant materialism, greed, and pathological narcissism, when the delusion of the disconnected dominant individual grows stronger, the contrary life-affirming stream of connection and respect is gaining strength even as it is suppressed, vilified, and criminalized. This stream, which we can call ‘awakening consciousness,’ is the motor ...
Earlier this year I joined some friends at a performance by the New York Philharmonic of Verdi’s Requiem Mass. Not one of us was Catholic or professed any creed threatening an afterlife of eternal suffering for the wicked. No perpetual willies over Judgment Day. Nevertheless, when the massed voices of chorus and orchestra unleashed their frenzy in the climac...
