Meeting Grandmother: Breakdown, breakthrough, and the fear of madness in psychedelic research
Tam Martin Fowles, Tehseen Noorani
Psychedelics May 16, 2026 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyche.2026.100022 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Anxiety |
| Keywords | Unconscious mind Action physics Perspective graphical Psychoanalysis |
| Key points | Argues that research on psychedelics and psychosis/madness should be interdisciplinary, methodologically expansive, and careful about speaking 'for' subjects, drawing on a concept of 'integration' from earlier psychosis research. |
Abstract
We take a wide view across the emerging research into psychedelics and psychosis/madness, to emphasize the need for not just more but also wise research at these intersections. We note the growing rate of publications on the use of psychedelics by people who have had experiences of psychosis/madness, and make our arguments around a narrative report of the lead author, who experienced a breakdown diagnosed as psychosis in 1989, and in 2024 used psychedelics for healing. In so doing, we bring current scientific research into psychedelic-assisted therapies into conversation with long-standing insights and concerns of critical, historical, user-led, participatory, and theoretical literatures on psychosis/madness. We offer key research questions, frameworks for inquiry, and challenges for this emerging subfield of psychedelics research to grapple with. In particular, we excavate and elaborate upon a concept of ‘integration’ in an earlier wave of psychosis research that contrasted it with the ‘sealing over’ of episodes of psychosis/madness. We call for research to be interdisciplinary, methodologically expansive, and take care when speaking ‘for’ the subjects of our studies. By so doing, both psychedelics and psychosis research stands to gain much from one another.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychedelics as Medicines: An Emerging New Paradigm General population | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Learning to Let Go: A Cognitive-Behavioral Model of How Psychedelic Therapy Promotes Acceptance | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Taking Psychedelics Seriously | 2018 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How could MDMA (ecstasy) help anxiety disorders? A neurobiological rationale | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Embedding existential psychology within psychedelic science: reduced death anxiety as a mediator of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics | 2019 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 17
- Extended difficulties following the use of psychedelic drugs: A mixed methods study PLoS One October 24, 2023
- Pivotal mental states Journal of Psychopharmacology April 1, 2021
- History repeating: guidelines to address common problems in psychedelic science Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology 2023
- Psychosis and psychedelics: Historical entanglements and contemporary contrasts. Transcultural Psychiatry October 1, 2022
- Longitudinal associations between psychedelic use and psychotic symptoms in the United States and the United Kingdom Journal of Affective Disorders January 26, 2024
and 12 more in the library