Social Science Research Network
August 25, 2021
Greg F. Ferenstein
preprint
Abstract: Field observations of underground, illicit, and private ceremonial substance use has been central to ongoing research in psychedelics-assisted therapy. This paper explores a novel use of MDA in a ceremonial virtual environment. Participant interviews and field notes are used to explore the reported therapeutic effects of this understudied entactogen. Users report therapeutic effects...
Frontiers in Psychology
August 19, 2021
Jessica Sophie Corneille, David Luke
61 citations
Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings (SSAs) are subjective experiences characterised by a sudden sense of direct contact, union, or complete nondual merging (experience of oneness) with a perceived ultimate reality, the universe, “God,” or the divine. These profound transformative experiences have scarcely been researched, despite extensive anecdotal evidence suggesting their potential to catalyse...
Journal of Sleep Research
August 18, 2021
Kathryn Kennedy, Célyne Bastien, Perrine Ruby et al.
25 citations
Nightmares are often associated with psychiatric disorders and acute stress. This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced the content of nightmares. A sample of N = 419 US adults completed online surveys about sleep and COVID-19 experiences. Participants were asked about the degree to which they agreed with statements linking greater general stress, worse overall sleep and...
Biology
August 17, 2021
Lourdes Poyatos, Esther Papaseit, Eulàlia Olesti et al.
26 citations
Considered the β-keto analogue of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy), 3,4-Methylenedioxymethcathinone (methylone) is a synthetic cathinone. Over the years, methylone has been used as a substitute for conventional psychostimulants, such as MDMA. To date, little is known about the human pharmacology of methylone; the only available information has been provided by surveys or...
Kierkegaard Studies
August 11, 2021
C. Thompson
Abstract This article examines three early writings of Hans L. Martensen, Søren Kierkegaard’s teacher and the target of his criticisms. The writings focus respectively on self-consciousness, mysticism, and freedom. They each make important claims about religion, and together they disclose the young Martensen’s systematic understanding of the epistemological, mystical, and moral-ethical...
Philosophy of Psychedelics
August 1, 2021
Chris Letheby
This Introduction outlines the central focus of Philosophy of Psychedelics: the therapeutic use of psychedelics in psychiatry and its apparent conflict with philosophical naturalism. The chapter briefly describes recent findings that controlled psychedelic administration can have lasting psychological benefits for healthy subjects and for psychiatric patients. It then cites evidence that these...
Oxford University Press eBooks
August 1, 2021
Chris Letheby
Philosophy of Psychedelics is the first scholarly monograph in English devoted to the philosophical analysis of psychedelic drugs. Its central focus is the apparent conflict between the growing use of psychedelics in psychiatry and the philosophical worldview of naturalism, which holds that the natural world is all that exists. The book reviews scientific evidence that psychedelics such as...
Philosophy of Psychedelics
August 1, 2021
Chris Letheby
1 citation
‘On the need for a natural philosophy of psychedelics’ provides a brief overview of the history of psychedelics in science and psychiatry, and a detailed review of recent evidence for their therapeutic and transformative efficacy. The chapter reviews clinical trials showing that one or two controlled psychedelic experiences can durably reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and addiction, and...
Philosophy of Psychedelics
August 1, 2021
Chris Letheby
2 citations
‘The mechanisms of psychedelic therapy’ presents arguments against three theories of psychedelic therapy. The Molecular Neuroplasticity Theory ascribes therapeutic benefits to an experience-independent molecular mechanism. This theory is undermined by the correlation between ‘mystical-type experiences’ and beneficial outcomes, which suggests that genuinely psychological mechanisms are involved....
Theology and praxis
July 30, 2021
Kang-Hack Lee
The research on mysticism in Protestant spiritualities is still in the beginning stage. In this paper, I have examined the process of Thomas Uphams' appropriation of Madame Guyon's mysticism and some concerns in the interpretation on mystical experiences. Phoebe Palmer guided Upham to have spiritual experiences starting from conversion and assessed them as a model case of experiencing entire...