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...
BACKGROUND: Globally, an estimated 260 million people suffer from depression [1], and there is a clear need for the development of new, alternative antidepressant therapies. In light of problems with the tolerability and efficacy of available treatments [2], a global trend is emerging for patients to self-treat depression with microdoses of psychedelic drugs...
Abstract Introduction It is not known how self-perception and self-recognition are influenced when one is highly self-focused under the influence of psilocybin. Here we examine self-reports of mirror self-recognition and self-perception during a psilocybin experience. Methods Reddit posts were examined in a systematic manner. Posts that were written by indiv...
This article reviews the historical protocols for the administration of “classic” psychedelics in France, from the 1920s to the 1960s. Taking a chronological approach, it investigates the way mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin were administered, the subjects involved, the route of administration, the dosage, and the epistemological context of the research. From ...
Abstract Background Psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, is increasingly discussed in terms of its psychotherapeutic potential; however, little is known about community attitudes towards psilocybin assisted therapy (PAT). Aims To address the question: What are the public's attitudes towards psilocybin and psilocybin-assisted therapy? And...
Abstract Whether occasioned through careful, consistent meditative practice or through quicker means like the ritual ingestion of psilocybin or ayahuasca, global contemplative practices have established effective systems of implementing, directing, and integrating the very kinds of non-ordinary experiences central to psychedelic use. However, contemplative t...
Abstract Background Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy has demonstrated significant promise as a treatment for depression, anxiety, and existential distress associated with serious medical illness and has generally been employed on an individual basis, which presents challenges for scaling and resource availability. There are also compelling theoretical reaso...
Abstract Background and aims Although large-scale population studies have linked the use of classic psychedelics (lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin, or mescaline) to reduced odds of physical health problems, mental health problems, and criminal behavior, the roughly 35 million adults in the United States who have used classic psychedelics are nonetheles...
Abstract This article reports on integration challenges that were experienced by nine individuals who attended a three-day legal psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach, using semi-structured interviews to gain an understanding of participants' ( n = 30) psilocybin experiences and their after-...
Abstract Background and Aims The hallucinogenic drug psilocybin is being widely tested in humans for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Psilocybin and other psychedelics are proposed to work through serotonin 2a (5-HT2a) receptors, which are tightly linked to immune function. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of a single dose of...
Background and aimsThere is growing evidence that psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic substance, may be useful in the treatment of substance use disorders. However, there is a lack of data on the beliefs and attitudes towards psilocybin amongst Black individuals diagnosed with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). This study characterized psilocybin use patterns and...
Abstract Psychedelic substances such as psilocybin and ketamine may represent the future of antidepressant treatment, due to their rapid and prolonged effects on mood and cognition. The current body of psychedelic research has focused on administration and treatment within a psychiatric context. Here, instead, we put to the test the contention that it is nec...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Annual MeetingFull AccessDemystifying Psychedelic Treatments in Psychiatry: Is Ego Dissolution the Solution?Michael Avissar, M.D., Ph.D., Adrian Jacques Ambrose, M.D., M.P.H.Michael AvissarSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., Ph.D., Adrian Jacques AmbroseSearch for more papers by this author, M....
This article shows, from historical and ethnographic perspectives, how the city of Huautla de Jiménez in the Sierra Mazateca (Oaxaca, Mexico) became an emblematic place for the trade of psilocybin mushrooms. Sales to foreigners started to take place in the Sierra Mazateca during the 1950s, stimulated by botanical expeditions and by the collapse in coffee pri...
Objective: The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) has positioned itself against medically controlled patient access (at this current time) to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin-assisted therapies in its Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Substances Clinical Memorandum, May 2020. The main reason given by the RA...
Abstract The recently published Imperial College study of a Phase II, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial comparing psilocybin-assisted therapy to a six-week titration of escitalopram for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) should raise concerns for this illness category as a target of early psychedelic research given a goal of FDA approval. There are thr...
In this manuscript, I reflect on how Critical Indigenous theory offers white historians like myself powerful conceptual tools to combat the underlying, historically-rooted colonial assumptions prevalent in their work, specifically within the subfield of psychedelic history. Histories of compounds like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, ayahuasca, ...
Abstract This article reports on the experiences of four healthy individuals who attended a legal psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach, using semi-structured interviews to gain an understanding of participants' psilocybin experiences and their after-effects. The experiential themes that eme...
Abstract Background Psilocybin is emerging as a promising therapeutic agent for a wide range of psychiatric conditions, and clinical trials on psilocybin-assisted treatment are forthcoming in Scandinavian countries. However, little is known about attitudes towards this psychedelic compound among the general public in Nordic countries. This might represent a ...
Abstract We sought to estimate the prevalence of lifetime psilocybin use among a national sample of US adults ages 18 and older and associated demographic/substance use correlates. Pooled data from the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were utilized among 168,650 individuals 18 years or older. An estimated 9.68% of individuals reported lifetim...
