This paper aims to contribute to an integrated understanding of what goes missing in adverse meditation experiences and in cases of depersonalization disorder. Depersonalization disorder is characterized by distressing alterations in, and sometimes the complete disappearance of, the 'I'-sense. This paper examines the nature of the 'I'-sense and what it means to lose it from a Buddhist...
Abstract Chapter 16 of Addiction Medicine covers hallucinogens, dissociative drugs, and empathogens. Hallucinogens, also termed psychedelics, are a large and diverse group of substances, some of which occur in fungi and plants and some which are chemically synthesized. Some have psychostimulant properties as well. They include psilocybin, mescaline, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ayahuasca, lysergic...
BJPsych OpenJune 1, 2024Bikramaditya Jaiswal, Neha Singh, Benson Benjamin
AimsThe primary aim of this rapid review was to evaluate the evidence base for the efficacy of ketamine across all formulations and routes of administrations in the treatment of adult patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD).MethodsThis rapid review retrieved controlled trials on use of ketamine across all of its formulations, including all isomers and across all routes of...
AbstractPurpose of ReviewOn 1 July 2023, the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)‐assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Accordingly, the purpose of this review is to provide an overview of MDMA and what pharmacists should know as this treatment emerges.Sources of InformationEMBASE, MEDLINE, and CINAHL...
This essay discusses the potential clinical use of 3,4methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) with patients diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We present a brief history of the use of consciousness-altering substances from ancient times to the present as well as recent research on psychedelic assisted psychotherapy (PAP). Double blind investigation in which some of the...
Debates on the distinction between religious experience and mental disorder tend to assume, rather than argue for, the existence of unique types of experience: the religious and the psychopathological. This paper interrogates this approach to the problem. It deconstructs the distinction by examining what the distinction is about beyond the terms in which it is presented and whether it matters...
Cannabis is a pharmacologically complex plant consisting of hundreds of potentially active compounds. One class of compounds present in cannabis that has received little attention are terpenes. Traditionally thought to impart aroma and flavor to cannabis, it has become increasingly recognized that terpenes might exert therapeutic effects themselves. Several recent reports have also indicated...
AbstractThe integrated information theory (IIT) is an ambitious theory of consciousness that aims to provide both a neuroscientific and a metaphysical account of consciousness by identifying consciousness with integrated information. In the philosophical literature, IIT is often associated with a panpsychist worldview. In this paper, I show that IIT can be considered, instead, as a form of...
Purpose: Dissociation is a necessary part of our threat response system, common to all animal species, normally temporarily activated under conditions of extreme or inescapable threat. Pathological dissociation, however, continues to occur after the initial threat has passed, in response to reminders or inaccessibility of safety and security. Present across the spectrum of psychiatric...
Psilocybin fungi, also more informally known as psychedelic mushrooms, have a rich, cultural history and were criminalized in the 1970s. However, recent developments, including Food and Drug Administration breakthrough status and state-level legalization, revive interest in these substances. They may be able to treat many disorders without the addictiveness or risk of overdose of cocaine,...