LSD research and use in American mental health during the 1970s was far from settled, with researchers continuing to push regulatory limits and attempt to transform mental healthcare. This article examines connections between LSD, mental health, and the broader cultural setting, avoiding simple narratives of rise or decline. LSD bridged biomedical concepts of health and cure with individuals' subjective needs, bringing together humanities, arts, social sciences, health policy, medical education, patient experience, and the public, while also dividing opinion. Drawing on archival materials, medical literature, and popular culture, the work offers a fresh approach to understanding cultural and countercultural-based healthcare in that era.
Mental health knowledge is not a neutral product but is shaped by politics, economics, and culture. This article examines how mental health practices—sometimes scientific, sometimes spiritual—have been conceived, debated, and applied by researchers and the public, drawing on case studies of yoga, religion, and fitness. It specifically interrogates the relationship between yoga, psychedelics, South Asian and Eastern religion as understood and practiced in the USA, and mental health.
The work argues for a panpsychist view that all bodies possess some form of mentality, challenging the traditional divide between mind and matter. It connects this perspective to pluralism, suggesting that diverse forms of consciousness exist across different entities, and examines the biopolitical implications of recognizing nonhuman minds. The text explores how such a framework might reshape ethical and political considerations regarding life, agency, and governance.