A psychedelic drug is one that “produces thought, mood and perceptual changes otherwise rarely experienced except in dreams, contemplative and religious exaltation, flashes of vivid involuntary memory, and acute psychosis”1. It does so “without causing physical addiction, craving, major physiological disturbances, delirium, disorientation or amnesia”1. The “classic psychedelics” include...
This article considers Georges Perec’s La Boutique obscure as a literary experiment in dream writing, by putting it in dialogue with French Freudianism, notably the clinical papers of J.-B. Pontalis, Perec’s long-time psychoanalyst. Pontalis describes a patient type, the "dream maker,” who provokes an extreme case of counter-transference and requires new methods in dream therapy. Pontalis, like...
The contribution will discuss the impact of American Theosophist Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (1878-1965) on the emerging "science of religion." Evans-Wentz first pursued Celtic studies, concluding in his The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries. Here, in line with Theosophical doctrines and Psychical Research, he claimed a "Fairyland" as "a supernormal state of consciousness into which men and women...
Intuitive response has been a cornerstone of patient–therapist interactions in all schools of therapy. In addition, persistent instances of “uncanny” intuitive knowing, such as “thought transference,” telepathic/precognitive dreams, distant awareness, and synchronicity have been identified since the very beginnings of psychoanalysis. These phenomena have remained on the fringes of scientific...
ABSTRACT In my reading of Ballard’s short story ‘Dream Cargoes’, I find a post-growth imaginary that focuses on a profound species-wide change of pace in the context of future nano- and biotech waste. I compare this to Tom Wolfe’s heady account of the Merry Pranksters set during the Great Acceleration of the 1960s and 1970s. While Wolfe captured multiple fragmented points of view located in...
Abstract Introduction The presence of hypnopompic hallucinations raises concerns for narcolepsy. However, sleep-related hallucinations may occur in other settings. Dreams at sleep-wake transitions may be difficult for patients to differentiate from sleep-related hallucinations. Sleep-related hallucinations are predominantly visual, although they can be auditory, tactile and/or kinetic. However,...
Sleep scientists have extensively validated the continuity hypothesis, according to which our dreams reflect what happens during our waking life. Yet, only a few attempts have been made to increase the general public's awareness about the benefits of dream analysis in better understanding and improving our daily life. We designed "The Dreamcatcher," an interactive visual tool that explores the...
Study objectives: Disturbing dreams are a common complaint among trauma survivors, but little epidemiological research exists to document the frequency in the general population. In addition, information about their occurrence in diverse adults is lacking. Methods: Using the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys we had the unique opportunity to examine disturbing dreams in a diverse...
Several theories link consciousness to complex cortical dynamics, as suggested by comparison of brain signal diversity between conscious states and states where consciousness is lost or reduced. In particular, Lempel-Ziv complexity, amplitude coalition entropy and synchrony coalition entropy distinguish wakefulness and REM sleep from deep sleep and anesthesia, and are elevated in psychedelic...
Dream lucidity, or being aware that one is dreaming while dreaming, is not an all-or-none phenomenon. Often, subjects report being some variant of “a little lucid” as opposed to completely or not at all. As recent neuroimaging work begins to elucidate the neural underpinnings of lucid experience, understanding subtle phenomenological variation within lucid dreams is essential. Here, we focus on...