Cancer patients encounter not only the physical manifestations of their disease but also a range of psychological challenges, including anxiety, depression, and severe sleep disturbances. Research indicates that approximately 50% of cancer patients experience clinically significant levels of distress, which can adversely affect treatment outcomes and diminish their overall quality of life....
CureusSeptember 1, 2024Namita Sahu, Pradeep S Patil, Asmita - et al.2 citations
Nightmares are distressing dreams that evoke strong negative emotions, such as fear or anxiety, often leading to waking from sleep and subsequent sleep disruption. They are prevalent across various age groups, with significant psychological and physiological health implications. This review explores the nature of nightmares, distinguishing them from other sleep disturbances like night terrors...
Psychedelic MedicineSeptember 1, 2024Banan Ramarushton, Heidemarie Blumenthal, Anthony Ryals et al.2 citations
Rumination is a well-established risk factor for the onset and maintenance of depression and anxiety and is associated with various other forms of psychopathology (e.g., eating pathology, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder). Evidence suggests that rumination is a transdiagnostic process that may play a key role in the comorbidity of such disorders. However, rumination...
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an established resource for people suffering from alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, Bill Wilson, the co-founder of AA, in his second letter to Jung referred to its low success rate. One evidence-based alternative, dating back to the 1950s, is the clinical use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for treating AUD. Bill Wilson was a strong advocate of using LSD as a...
Psychedelics have emerged as promising therapeutics for several psychiatric disorders. Hypotheses around their mechanisms have revolved around their partial agonism at the serotonin 2 A receptor, leading to enhanced neuroplasticity and brain connectivity changes that underlie positive mindset shifts. However, these accounts fail to recognise that the gut microbiota, acting via the gut-brain...
While it has long been acknowledged that Chan differs in many ways from more mainstream forms of Buddhism, recent scholarship has also resulted in an increasing awareness of the originality of early Buddhist teachings found in the Nikāyas and their distinctiveness from the later doctrine of classical Theravāda. This book is inspired by passages in Nikāya and early Chan texts that can be read as...
This article aims to deepen the understanding of existential intrasubjectivity and intersubjectivity as they relate to the body, being, and nature, as experienced through the lens of Warli philosophy, particularly the Kahankar and the Ahankar. This reflexive inquiry lies at the intersection of the author’s identity as a researcher, a dance movement therapist, and a spiritual being. The...
This article is a meditation on the question of the soul as it may be approached in anthropology, through a close reading of Stefania Pandolfo's work on Islamic healing in Morocco, Knot of the Soul.
A balanced mind, or equanimity, cultivated through meditation and other spiritual practices, is considered one of the highest mental states. Its core features include deidentification and non-duality. Despite its significance, its neural correlates remain unknown. To address this, we acquired 128-channel EEG data (n = 103) from advanced and novice meditators (from the Isha Yoga tradition) and...
Especially in The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James developed the polar categories of healthy-minded individuals content with their once-born religion versus sick souls who need to become twice-born in order to find religious peace. Biographers of James have concluded that he does not fit well under either of his polar categories. Drawing on both data about James’ life and on his...