Both psychedelic drug experiences and near-death experiences can occasion changes in perspectives on death and dying, but there have been few direct comparisons of these phenomena. This study directly compared psychedelic occasioned and non-drug experiences which altered individuals’ beliefs about death. Individuals who reported an experience that altered their beliefs about death occasioned by...
Abstract: This multi‐method study examined perspectives on mindfulness and coping strategies used by trauma‐exposed women experiencing homelessness (WEH), residing in a state‐funded residential drug treatment site in Southern California (United States). Questionnaires and in‐depth focus group interviews were utilised to examine traumatic experiences over the lifespan, probable‐posttraumatic...
Parents with infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Mindfulness and relaxation-based interventions are effective in reducing distress in the general postpartum population. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate whether mindfulness and/or relaxation-based interventions reduce stress, anxiety, and depression in NICU...
Abstract Spiritual experiences have occurred in people around the world and throughout history, up to and including the present day. The founders of every major religion described them, philosophers since the ancient Greeks have pondered them, and according to recent Gallup polls, about 30% of people in the United States and the United Kingdom still report them. A century ago, in The Varieties...
Abstract With novel hallucinogens poised to enter psychiatry, we lack a unified framework for quantifying which changes in consciousness are optimal for treatment. Using transformers (i.e. BERT) and 11,816 publicly-available drug testimonials, we first predicted 28-dimensions of sentiment across each narrative, validated with psychiatrist annotations. Secondly, BERT was trained to predict...
Abstract Rationale A general feeling of disconnection has been associated with mental and emotional suffering. Improvements to a sense of connectedness to self, others and the wider world have been reported by participants in clinical trials of psychedelic therapy. Such accounts have led us to a definition of the psychological construct of ‘connectedness’ as ‘a state of feeling connected to...
Successful therapy is influenced by successful communication and a relationship built on trust. Physician empathy and listening skills appear particularly relevant. Based on their empirical experience, general practitioners report special moments in their patients during their medical consultations. Abraham Maslow coined the term "peak experience" for these special moments, which are rare and...
Ecstasy (literally, ‘standing outside’), that is, the sense of being outside or beyond the ordinary modes of consciousness, seems to be a universal trait of human existence. Among the many forms of ecstasy is religious, or ‘supra-normal’, ecstasy, which is seen as coming from the action of a higher source, or divinity. This essay examines the forms of religious ecstasy and related terminology...
The mode of 'comparison' is essential, especially when it comes to the contemplation of Marguerite Porete and Hadewijch, the French and Dutch Beguine mystics from 13th century; Their notoriously enigmatic mysticism, by which radical and unique meditations on indistinct union with Divine are expressed in erotic and ecstatic manner, may discover a counterpart in nondualist tantric traditions of...
<p>Disruptions to the sense of self are dotted across cultures and times in rituals involving hallucinogens, sensory deprivation, trance possession, and meditation. Much of the research on the self or “ego” suggests that the self is a complicated, multi-faceted entity and that there are many aspects that hold together our ego. Yet, current measurements on ego-dissolution focus on a narrow...