The classic serotonergic hallucinogens, or psychedelics, have the ability to profoundly alter perception and behavior. These can include visual distortions, hallucinations, detachment from reality, and mystical experiences. Some psychedelics, like LSD, are able to produce these effects with remarkably low doses of drug. Others, like psilocybin, have recently been demonstrated to have...
Many patients with heart failure (HF) experience persistent symptoms and poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Psychosocial distress is common and adversely affects HF symptoms and HRQOL. A holistic meditation (HOME) intervention that combines mindfulness, compassionate meditation, and self-management may reduce psychosocial distress. The aims of this study were to examine the...
For persons with chronic disease, participation in meditation interventions can reduce anxiety, depression, and chronic disease symptoms in a dose dependent fashion. Unfortunately, information about how to support long-term participation in such an intervention is lacking. Therefore, a recent discovery of persons with chronic lung disease who have maintained a self-led meditation group for more...
To analyze psychopathological features of religious delusion of possession, determine the place of this phenomenon in psychotic syndrome, and identify the prognosis and dynamics of schizophrenia due to this disorder. Thirteen patients with religious delusion of possession were examined in 1994-2016 by psychopathological and follow-up methods. Hallucinations of a general feeling are the crucial...
According to Thomas Metzinger, many human cognitive processes in the waking state are spontaneous and are deprived of the experience of epistemic agency. He considers mind wandering as a paradigm example of our recurring loss of epistemic agency. I will enrich this view by extending the scope of the concept of epistemic agency to include cases of depressive rumination and creative cognition,...
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an effective non-pharmacologic treatment for veterans with PTSD. Extensive work has identified epigenetic factors related to PTSD disease risk and pathophysiology, but how these factors influence treatment response is unclear. Serotonin signaling and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning may be perturbed in PTSD and are molecular...
Background: Mindfulness meditation (MM) can be regarded as a practice for calming the mind, while the focus on their breathing can help meditators maintain a state of mindful presence. We have developed and evaluated an alternative method for reaching conscious states of pure being without the aid of a focus of attention. Methods: Skin conductance feedback was provided in real-time during...
Human research with psychedelics is making groundbreaking discoveries. Psychedelics modify enduring elements of personality and seemingly reduce anxiety, depression, and substance dependence in small but well-designed clinical studies. Psychedelics are advancing through pharmaceutical regulatory systems, and neuroimaging studies have related their extraordinary effects to select brain networks....
Depression and anxiety are psychiatric diagnoses commonly associated with low quality of life and low percentage of responsiveness by patients treated with currently available drugs. Thus, research into alternative compounds to treat these disorders is essential to guarantee a patient's remission. The last decade has witnessed a revamped interest for the application of psychedelic medicine for...
Recent, well-controlled - albeit small-scale - clinical trials show that serotonergic psychedelics, including psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide, possess great promise for treating psychiatric disorders, including treatment-resistant depression. Additionally, fresh results from a deluge of clinical neuroimaging studies are unveiling the dynamic effects of serotonergic psychedelics on...