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Altered states of consciousness: phenomenology and pharmacology

David Healy

Journal of Psychopharmacology May 1, 1992 DOI: 10.1177/026988119200600313 (opens in new tab)

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Characteristics Historical analysis Peer reviewed
Topics Altered states of consciousness Philosophy of mind
Key points Argues that questions about the phenomenology and pharmacology of altered states of consciousness returned to scientific prominence largely because of the 1980 DSM III reclassification, which included syndromes characterizable as altered states of consciousness, and recognition of awareness under anaesthesia. Contends this follows a century in which an earlier psychopathological focus on consciousness was increasingly neglected.

Abstract

In recent years a conjunction of factors have brought questions surrounding the phenomenology and pharmacology of altered states of consciousness back onto the scientific agenda. These factors primarily involve the re-classification of psychiatric disorders that took place in 1980 with the publication of DSM III, which contained a number of syndromes that could be characterized in terms of altered states of consciousness, and also the recognition of the phenomenon of awareness under anaesthesia. These issues are outlined against a historical background, in which there had been at the end of the last century a primary psychopathological focus on the question of consciousness that was, however, increasingly neglected during the course of this century until its recent return to prominence.

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on altered states of consciousness, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Altered States of Consciousness 1966 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis 2003 Theoretical or philosophical paper
The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death 1969 Theoretical or philosophical paper
A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics 2022 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Hypnotic phenomena and altered states of consciousness: a multilevel framework of description and explanation 2003 Theoretical or philosophical paper

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Altered states of consciousness Philosophy of mind