C. Gilbert, M. Earleywine, M. Mian, Brianna R. Altman
Ayahuasca's effects on symptoms of depression have generated considerable optimism. Clients frequently report more concern about some symptoms than others, and available treatments alter symptoms differentially. Few studies address the symptom specificity of this psychoactive brew.We examined self-reported effects of ayahuasca on the individual symptoms of depression assessed by the 10-item short-form of Center for Epidemiological Studies of Depression (CESD-10).We asked over 120 participants to complete a retrospective assessment of CESD-10 symptoms one month before and one month after using ayahuasca.Participants indicated that ayahuasca had a larger influence on affective symptoms like hope, depressed mood, and happiness, than cognitive, interpersonal, and somatic symptoms like restless sleep, loneliness, and difficulty focusing.Potential clients might appreciate identifying if different treatments provide more relief for some depressive symptoms than others. We examined retrospective reports of ayahuasca's potential for differential impact. Those eager to alter hope, happiness, and other affective symptoms will likely find ayahuasca more helpful than those who want an intervention for restless sleep, loneliness, or trouble focusing. This symptom specificity parallels the effects of serotonergic antidepressant medications, suggesting that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy using ayahuasca might have considerable appeal for those who seek comparable relief but would rather not use prescription serotonergic medications. Jumpstarting psychotherapy with the rapid onset of ayahuasca-induced relief also appears to have potential.
{"title":"Symptom specificity of ayahuasca's effect on depressive symptoms","authors":"C. Gilbert, M. Earleywine, M. Mian, Brianna R. Altman","doi":"10.1556/2054.2021.00165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2021.00165","url":null,"abstract":"Ayahuasca's effects on symptoms of depression have generated considerable optimism. Clients frequently report more concern about some symptoms than others, and available treatments alter symptoms differentially. Few studies address the symptom specificity of this psychoactive brew.We examined self-reported effects of ayahuasca on the individual symptoms of depression assessed by the 10-item short-form of Center for Epidemiological Studies of Depression (CESD-10).We asked over 120 participants to complete a retrospective assessment of CESD-10 symptoms one month before and one month after using ayahuasca.Participants indicated that ayahuasca had a larger influence on affective symptoms like hope, depressed mood, and happiness, than cognitive, interpersonal, and somatic symptoms like restless sleep, loneliness, and difficulty focusing.Potential clients might appreciate identifying if different treatments provide more relief for some depressive symptoms than others. We examined retrospective reports of ayahuasca's potential for differential impact. Those eager to alter hope, happiness, and other affective symptoms will likely find ayahuasca more helpful than those who want an intervention for restless sleep, loneliness, or trouble focusing. This symptom specificity parallels the effects of serotonergic antidepressant medications, suggesting that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy using ayahuasca might have considerable appeal for those who seek comparable relief but would rather not use prescription serotonergic medications. Jumpstarting psychotherapy with the rapid onset of ayahuasca-induced relief also appears to have potential.","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":"5 1","pages":"37-43"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45835963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
H. B. Jacobsen, A. Stubhaug, Bjørn Holmøy, T. Kvam, S. Reme
Psilocybin is emerging as a promising therapeutic agent for a wide range of psychiatric conditions, and clinical trials on psilocybin-assisted treatment are forthcoming in Scandinavian countries. However, little is known about attitudes towards this psychedelic compound among the general public in Nordic countries. This might represent a confound, and reduce the validity of research findings or the overall feasibility of conducting high-quality clinical trials.The main objective of this study is to address the knowledge gap surrounding use and attitudes towards psilocybin in Norway.We asked a representative sample of the Norwegian population (N = 1,078) if they have ever tried psilocybin and if they would be willing to do so as part of medical treatment. These questions were part of a larger online survey on a variety personal preferences and attitudes, and the survey was not presented as a study on psilocybin.Of the 1,078 respondents, 8% reported previous psilocybin use and 51% were willing to try psilocybin in medical treatment.Psilocybin use is more common in Norway than the authors hypothesized, and the general public is relatively open to using psilocybin in a medical context. The latter is interpreted as promising with regards to the feasibility of conducting rigorous clinical trials on potential effects and side effects of psilocybin-assisted treatment in Norway.
{"title":"Have Norwegians tried psilocybin, and do they accept it as a medicine?","authors":"H. B. Jacobsen, A. Stubhaug, Bjørn Holmøy, T. Kvam, S. Reme","doi":"10.1556/2054.2021.00167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2021.00167","url":null,"abstract":"Psilocybin is emerging as a promising therapeutic agent for a wide range of psychiatric conditions, and clinical trials on psilocybin-assisted treatment are forthcoming in Scandinavian countries. However, little is known about attitudes towards this psychedelic compound among the general public in Nordic countries. This might represent a confound, and reduce the validity of research findings or the overall feasibility of conducting high-quality clinical trials.The main objective of this study is to address the knowledge gap surrounding use and attitudes towards psilocybin in Norway.We asked a representative sample of the Norwegian population (N = 1,078) if they have ever tried psilocybin and if they would be willing to do so as part of medical treatment. These questions were part of a larger online survey on a variety personal preferences and attitudes, and the survey was not presented as a study on psilocybin.Of the 1,078 respondents, 8% reported previous psilocybin use and 51% were willing to try psilocybin in medical treatment.Psilocybin use is more common in Norway than the authors hypothesized, and the general public is relatively open to using psilocybin in a medical context. The latter is interpreted as promising with regards to the feasibility of conducting rigorous clinical trials on potential effects and side effects of psilocybin-assisted treatment in Norway.","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":"5 1","pages":"33-36"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41624560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article reports on the experiences of four healthy individuals who attended a legal psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach, using semi-structured interviews to gain an understanding of participants' psilocybin experiences and their after-effects. The experiential themes that emerged from these case studies closely match themes that have been identified in previous studies of psilocybin, including variability of the experience, the presence of mystical-type features, significant changes to subjective sense of self, and a generalized sense of connectedness. Participants framed their narrative accounts around moments of key insight, and these insights were related to a sense of connection: to self, others, and to a broader relational ontology. Embodiment, currently an understudied topic in psychedelic research, also emerged as a theme. The case studies presented here provide preliminary evidence to suggest that for healthy individuals in a well-controlled and supportive retreat setting, a high dose of psilocybin can lead to enduring positive after-effects that last up to twelve months.
{"title":"Four individuals' experiences during and following a psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands","authors":"Anna Lutkajtis","doi":"10.1556/2054.2021.00162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2021.00162","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports on the experiences of four healthy individuals who attended a legal psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach, using semi-structured interviews to gain an understanding of participants' psilocybin experiences and their after-effects. The experiential themes that emerged from these case studies closely match themes that have been identified in previous studies of psilocybin, including variability of the experience, the presence of mystical-type features, significant changes to subjective sense of self, and a generalized sense of connectedness. Participants framed their narrative accounts around moments of key insight, and these insights were related to a sense of connection: to self, others, and to a broader relational ontology. Embodiment, currently an understudied topic in psychedelic research, also emerged as a theme. The case studies presented here provide preliminary evidence to suggest that for healthy individuals in a well-controlled and supportive retreat setting, a high dose of psilocybin can lead to enduring positive after-effects that last up to twelve months.","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":"5 1","pages":"22-32"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49139527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Having entered the recent public and research zeitgeist, microdosing involves consuming sub-perceptual doses of psychedelic drugs, allegedly to enhance performance, creativity, and wellbeing. The results of research to date have been mixed. Whereas most studies have reported positive impacts of microdosing, some microdosers have also reported adverse effects. In addition, research to date has revealed inconsistent patterns of change in personality traits. This prospective study explored the relationship between microdosing, personality change, and emotional awareness.Measures of personality and alexithymia were collected at two time points. 76 microdosers participated at baseline. Invitations to a follow-up survey were sent out after 31 days, and 24 participants were retained.Conscientiousness increased, while neuroticism decreased across these time points (n = 24). At baseline (N = 76), neuroticism was associated with alexithymia. In addition, neuroticism correlated negatively with duration of prior microdosing experience, and extraversion correlated positively with both duration of prior microdosing experience and lifetime number of microdoses.These results suggest that microdosing might have an impact on otherwise stable personality traits.
{"title":"Exploring the relationship between microdosing, personality and emotional insight: A prospective study","authors":"H. M. Dressler, Stephen J. Bright, V. Polito","doi":"10.1556/2054.2021.00157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2021.00157","url":null,"abstract":"Having entered the recent public and research zeitgeist, microdosing involves consuming sub-perceptual doses of psychedelic drugs, allegedly to enhance performance, creativity, and wellbeing. The results of research to date have been mixed. Whereas most studies have reported positive impacts of microdosing, some microdosers have also reported adverse effects. In addition, research to date has revealed inconsistent patterns of change in personality traits. This prospective study explored the relationship between microdosing, personality change, and emotional awareness.Measures of personality and alexithymia were collected at two time points. 76 microdosers participated at baseline. Invitations to a follow-up survey were sent out after 31 days, and 24 participants were retained.Conscientiousness increased, while neuroticism decreased across these time points (n = 24). At baseline (N = 76), neuroticism was associated with alexithymia. In addition, neuroticism correlated negatively with duration of prior microdosing experience, and extraversion correlated positively with both duration of prior microdosing experience and lifetime number of microdoses.These results suggest that microdosing might have an impact on otherwise stable personality traits.","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":"5 1","pages":"9-16"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49089311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brain Muraresku is a practicing attorney and a student of ancient languages (Greek, Latin and Sanskrit), whose twelve-year odyssey through the archives of Western religion culminated in the publication of The Immortality Key (TIK). According to Muraresku, this work, which “presents the pagan continuity hypothesis with a psychedelic twist,” addresses two fundamental questions: “Before the rise of Christianity, did the Ancient Greeks consume a secret psychedelic sacrament during their most famous and well-attended religious rituals? Did the Ancient Greeks pass a version of their sacrament along to the earliest, Greekspeaking Christians, for whom the original Holy Communion or Eucharist was, in fact, a psychedelic Eucharist?” TIK is a fascinating, audacious and important book. It is fascinating for general readers and scholars alike in the journalistic manner in which it investigates and interprets difficultto-access data from diverse fields. Muraresku takes us along on his often breathless journey, describing visits to the nonpublic ceramic collections of the Louvre Museum in search of the pagan roots of Christian wine; explorations of Rome’s vast catacombs to decipher archaeological traces of entheogen use in early Christian symbols; and rare access to recently-opened Vatican archives to translate Inquisition proceedings documenting the dual persecution of mothers and daughters in medieval witchcraft trials. This book is audacious because it tackles and purports to resolve some of the most controversial questions in Catholic Church history and Indo-European archeology. Does Christianity have a psychedelic history? Who were the ancient Indo-Europeans and were their soma/haoma rituals the inspiration for the kykeon potion in the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries and the Eucharist in early Christianity? These Ancient Greek Mysteries are a landmark in the psychedelic study of world religions because they were practiced annually for nearly 2,000 years, from about 1500 BC to 380 AD when the Catholic Church became the official religion of the Roman Empire after which Eleusis was destroyed as a pagan temple. And, TIK is important because, based on Muraresku’s conversations with archaeochemists at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT and on his interpretation of until-now obscure archaeobontanical discoveries in Spain, it reports on the first direct chemical evidence of entheogen use in the Eleusinian Mysteries. In the process, The Immortality Key resurrects and rescues the life work of Carl A.P. Ruck, a Classics professor expert in the rites of Dionysus and Catholic Church history, from four decades of academic exile. In 1978, Ruck coauthored, with ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson (1898–1986) and chemist Albert Hoffman (1906–2008), The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secrets of the Mysteries, which proposed that the kykeon, the secret potion consumed by initiates at Eleusis, contained a hallucinogenic ergot. The book presents evidence, analyzed by Hoffman at Sa
Brain Muraresku是一名执业律师和古语言(希腊语，拉丁语和梵语)的学生，他在西方宗教档案中度过了12年的漫长旅程，最终出版了《不朽之钥》(TIK)。根据穆拉雷斯库的说法，这部作品“以迷幻的扭曲呈现了异教的连续性假设”，解决了两个基本问题:“在基督教兴起之前，古希腊人在他们最著名和最受欢迎的宗教仪式中是否服用了一种秘密的迷幻圣礼?古希腊人是否把他们的圣礼的一个版本传给了最早说希腊语的基督徒，对他们来说，最初的圣餐或圣餐实际上是一种迷幻的圣餐?”《TIK》是一本引人入胜、大胆而重要的书。它以新闻的方式调查和解释来自不同领域的难以获取的数据，这对普通读者和学者都很有吸引力。穆拉雷斯库带我们踏上了他那常常让人喘不过气来的旅程，他描述了他去卢浮宫博物馆的非公开陶瓷收藏，寻找基督教葡萄酒的异教根源;探索罗马巨大的地下墓穴，破译早期基督教符号中使用内theogen的考古痕迹;以及最近开放的梵蒂冈档案，以翻译中世纪巫术审判中母亲和女儿遭受双重迫害的宗教裁判所诉讼程序。这本书是大胆的，因为它处理并声称要解决天主教会历史和印欧考古学中一些最具争议的问题。基督教有迷幻的历史吗?古印欧人是谁?他们的soma/haoma仪式是希腊Eleusinian Mysteries中的kykeon药水和早期基督教的圣餐的灵感来源吗?这些古希腊奥秘是世界宗教迷幻研究的一个里程碑，因为从大约公元前1500年到公元380年，在天主教会成为罗马帝国的官方宗教之后，这些古希腊奥秘在近2000年的时间里每年都在进行，之后Eleusis作为异教神庙被摧毁。而且，TIK很重要，因为根据Muraresku与宾夕法尼亚大学和麻省理工学院的考古化学家的谈话，以及他对西班牙迄今为止尚不为人知的考古发现的解释，它报告了Eleusinian奥秘中使用内氧原的第一个直接化学证据。在这个过程中，《不朽之钥》复活并拯救了卡尔·a·p·拉克的毕生作品，他是一位研究酒神仪式和天主教会历史的古典学教授，从40年的学术流放中解脱出来。1978年，Ruck与人种学家R. Gordon Wasson(1898-1986)和化学家Albert Hoffman(1906-2008)共同撰写了《通往Eleusis的道路:揭开神秘的秘密》一书，其中提出Eleusis信徒饮用的秘密药水kykeon含有致幻剂麦角。霍夫曼在瑞士山德士(Sandoz)实验室分析的证据表明，小麦和大麦的麦角含有麦角碱类生物碱和麦角酸酰胺(LSD的一种较弱的同类物质)，这两种物质都具有精神活性。荷马史诗《致得墨忒耳的赞美诗》中说，kykeon是用大麦、水和薄荷制成的。基于这些信息，研究人员推测，公元前2000年在埃莱乌斯周围的赖安平原上发现的野生大麦是一种含有麦角菌的水溶性致幻剂生物碱的宿主——紫色紫茎菌核，一种生长在黑麦、大麦、小麦和野草上的寄生真菌。迷幻药研究杂志
{"title":"The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name","authors":"Jerry B. Brown","doi":"10.1556/2054.2021.00170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2021.00170","url":null,"abstract":"Brain Muraresku is a practicing attorney and a student of ancient languages (Greek, Latin and Sanskrit), whose twelve-year odyssey through the archives of Western religion culminated in the publication of The Immortality Key (TIK). According to Muraresku, this work, which “presents the pagan continuity hypothesis with a psychedelic twist,” addresses two fundamental questions: “Before the rise of Christianity, did the Ancient Greeks consume a secret psychedelic sacrament during their most famous and well-attended religious rituals? Did the Ancient Greeks pass a version of their sacrament along to the earliest, Greekspeaking Christians, for whom the original Holy Communion or Eucharist was, in fact, a psychedelic Eucharist?” TIK is a fascinating, audacious and important book. It is fascinating for general readers and scholars alike in the journalistic manner in which it investigates and interprets difficultto-access data from diverse fields. Muraresku takes us along on his often breathless journey, describing visits to the nonpublic ceramic collections of the Louvre Museum in search of the pagan roots of Christian wine; explorations of Rome’s vast catacombs to decipher archaeological traces of entheogen use in early Christian symbols; and rare access to recently-opened Vatican archives to translate Inquisition proceedings documenting the dual persecution of mothers and daughters in medieval witchcraft trials. This book is audacious because it tackles and purports to resolve some of the most controversial questions in Catholic Church history and Indo-European archeology. Does Christianity have a psychedelic history? Who were the ancient Indo-Europeans and were their soma/haoma rituals the inspiration for the kykeon potion in the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries and the Eucharist in early Christianity? These Ancient Greek Mysteries are a landmark in the psychedelic study of world religions because they were practiced annually for nearly 2,000 years, from about 1500 BC to 380 AD when the Catholic Church became the official religion of the Roman Empire after which Eleusis was destroyed as a pagan temple. And, TIK is important because, based on Muraresku’s conversations with archaeochemists at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT and on his interpretation of until-now obscure archaeobontanical discoveries in Spain, it reports on the first direct chemical evidence of entheogen use in the Eleusinian Mysteries. In the process, The Immortality Key resurrects and rescues the life work of Carl A.P. Ruck, a Classics professor expert in the rites of Dionysus and Catholic Church history, from four decades of academic exile. In 1978, Ruck coauthored, with ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson (1898–1986) and chemist Albert Hoffman (1906–2008), The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secrets of the Mysteries, which proposed that the kykeon, the secret potion consumed by initiates at Eleusis, contained a hallucinogenic ergot. The book presents evidence, analyzed by Hoffman at Sa","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":"5 1","pages":"5-8"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48203490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Martie S. Underwood, Stephen J. Bright, B. Les Lancaster
Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid contained in the West African plant Tabernanthe iboga. Although preliminary, evidence suggests that ibogaine could be effective in the treatment of certain substance use disorders, specifically opioid use disorder. This narrative review concentrated on the pharmacological, cultural and psychological aspects of ibogaine that contribute to its reputed effectiveness with a specific focus on the ibogaine state of consciousness. Although the exact pharmacological mechanisms for ibogaine are still speculative, the literature highlighted its role as an NMDA antagonist in the effective treatment of substance use disorders. The cultural aspects associated with the use of ibogaine pose questions around the worldview of participants as experienced in the traditional and western contexts, which future research should clarify. From a psychological perspective, the theory that the ibogaine state of consciousness resembles REM sleep is questionable due to evidence that indicated ibogaine supressed REM sleep, and contradictory evidence in relation to learning and memory. The suggested classification of the ibogaine experience as oneirophrenic also seems inadequate as it only describes the first phase of the ibogaine experience. The ibogaine experience does however present characteristics consistent with holotropic states of consciousness, and future research could focus on exploring and potentially classifying the state of consciousness induced by ibogaine as holotropic.
{"title":"A narrative review of the pharmacological, cultural and psychological literature on ibogaine","authors":"Martie S. Underwood, Stephen J. Bright, B. Les Lancaster","doi":"10.1556/2054.2021.00152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2021.00152","url":null,"abstract":"Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid contained in the West African plant Tabernanthe iboga. Although preliminary, evidence suggests that ibogaine could be effective in the treatment of certain substance use disorders, specifically opioid use disorder. This narrative review concentrated on the pharmacological, cultural and psychological aspects of ibogaine that contribute to its reputed effectiveness with a specific focus on the ibogaine state of consciousness. Although the exact pharmacological mechanisms for ibogaine are still speculative, the literature highlighted its role as an NMDA antagonist in the effective treatment of substance use disorders. The cultural aspects associated with the use of ibogaine pose questions around the worldview of participants as experienced in the traditional and western contexts, which future research should clarify. From a psychological perspective, the theory that the ibogaine state of consciousness resembles REM sleep is questionable due to evidence that indicated ibogaine supressed REM sleep, and contradictory evidence in relation to learning and memory. The suggested classification of the ibogaine experience as oneirophrenic also seems inadequate as it only describes the first phase of the ibogaine experience. The ibogaine experience does however present characteristics consistent with holotropic states of consciousness, and future research could focus on exploring and potentially classifying the state of consciousness induced by ibogaine as holotropic.","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":"5 1","pages":"44-54"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44894237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We sought to estimate the prevalence of lifetime psilocybin use among a national sample of US adults ages 18 and older and associated demographic/substance use correlates. Pooled data from the 2015–2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were utilized among 168,650 individuals 18 years or older. An estimated 9.68% of individuals reported lifetime use of psilocybin. Differences were found among demographics, drug use, and sexual identity, with bisexual identification being associated with greater lifetime use. Nearly two-thirds of individuals who have ever used Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), methamphetamine, and/or heroin also reportedly used psilocybin. Findings from the present study can inform harm reduction efforts and behavioral health messaging.
{"title":"Use of psilocybin (“mushrooms”) among US adults: 2015–2018","authors":"A. Yockey, K. King","doi":"10.1556/2054.2020.00159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2020.00159","url":null,"abstract":"We sought to estimate the prevalence of lifetime psilocybin use among a national sample of US adults ages 18 and older and associated demographic/substance use correlates. Pooled data from the 2015–2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were utilized among 168,650 individuals 18 years or older. An estimated 9.68% of individuals reported lifetime use of psilocybin. Differences were found among demographics, drug use, and sexual identity, with bisexual identification being associated with greater lifetime use. Nearly two-thirds of individuals who have ever used Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), methamphetamine, and/or heroin also reportedly used psilocybin. Findings from the present study can inform harm reduction efforts and behavioral health messaging.","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44507462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Crowley uses his personal engagement with Buddhism and a review and analysis of ancient texts as a basis to address evidence for entheogenic substances in Tibetan Buddhism. Crowley provides a wide-ranging analysis of an idea that has gained increasing popularity—and controversy—that ancient Buddhist practices involved the use of entheogens. Crowley provides analyses of myth and ritual practices that reveal information regarding the identities of entheogenic sacraments of Buddhism and Hinduism. Crowley places his considerations of entheogen use in the context of the development of the Aryan peoples (Indo-European speakers) and the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). In contrast to a longstanding view that the entheogenic soma traditions of the Vedas originated in the Indo-Aryan civilization, Crowley contends the Indo-Aryans obtained it from IVC. Depictions of ceramic strainers associated with soma ritual resemble much earlier artifacts of the Harappan civilization, indicating that the prototype Iranian haoma and Indic soma traditions derived from cultural transfer from the IVC sacramental practices. This interpretation is consistent with the lack of central psychoactive sacramental rituals among other ancient Indo-European cultures, the exceptions being the related soma of India and haoma in Iran. Further evidence of IVC origins of Vedic/Brahman deities comes from the Aryan deity Rudra, also identified with Agni (“fire”) and Soma. Rudra appears to have been derived from a Dravidian deity that entered the Aryan belief system after they arrived in the Indus Valley since the characteristic features (an archer with horns and a tail) are represented on IVC seals. This background and arguments are, however, largely incidental to Crowley’s main arguments. Crowley’s analyses focus on a central myths of a more recent phase (since 500 BCE), the period that gave rise to new gods and heroes expressed in the epics Mah abh arata and the R am ayan _ a and myths known as pur an _ as (“ancient tales”) that conveyed the beliefs of the nonAryan Indian populations and supported the emergence of Vajray ana Buddhism. The meanings behind these Vajray ana deities nonetheless came from Hindu myth and ritual, and it is the tracing of these similarities between the deities of Hindu and Vajray ana in their characteristics that provides the basis of Crowley’s arguments that Buddhist amr _ ita is the Vedic soma. Crowley’s analysis focuses on the Vedic myth called The Churning of the Ocean, a later account of the origins of soma sacrament. Here we learn of how the Vedic gods stole soma from the asuras, a group outside of the castes that represented the shamanic practitioners of the IVC. Crowley analyzes and compares the Vedic account with the Tibetan Buddhist Vajray ana text Immaculate Crystal Garland which recounts the principal events of the Churning of the Ocean myth, showing its origins in the earlier Sanskrit version. The parallels between Tibetan Buddhist accounts of the ori
{"title":"Entheogens in Buddhism","authors":"Michael A. Winkelman","doi":"10.1556/2054.2020.00161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2020.00161","url":null,"abstract":"Crowley uses his personal engagement with Buddhism and a review and analysis of ancient texts as a basis to address evidence for entheogenic substances in Tibetan Buddhism. Crowley provides a wide-ranging analysis of an idea that has gained increasing popularity—and controversy—that ancient Buddhist practices involved the use of entheogens. Crowley provides analyses of myth and ritual practices that reveal information regarding the identities of entheogenic sacraments of Buddhism and Hinduism. Crowley places his considerations of entheogen use in the context of the development of the Aryan peoples (Indo-European speakers) and the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). In contrast to a longstanding view that the entheogenic soma traditions of the Vedas originated in the Indo-Aryan civilization, Crowley contends the Indo-Aryans obtained it from IVC. Depictions of ceramic strainers associated with soma ritual resemble much earlier artifacts of the Harappan civilization, indicating that the prototype Iranian haoma and Indic soma traditions derived from cultural transfer from the IVC sacramental practices. This interpretation is consistent with the lack of central psychoactive sacramental rituals among other ancient Indo-European cultures, the exceptions being the related soma of India and haoma in Iran. Further evidence of IVC origins of Vedic/Brahman deities comes from the Aryan deity Rudra, also identified with Agni (“fire”) and Soma. Rudra appears to have been derived from a Dravidian deity that entered the Aryan belief system after they arrived in the Indus Valley since the characteristic features (an archer with horns and a tail) are represented on IVC seals. This background and arguments are, however, largely incidental to Crowley’s main arguments. Crowley’s analyses focus on a central myths of a more recent phase (since 500 BCE), the period that gave rise to new gods and heroes expressed in the epics Mah abh arata and the R am ayan _ a and myths known as pur an _ as (“ancient tales”) that conveyed the beliefs of the nonAryan Indian populations and supported the emergence of Vajray ana Buddhism. The meanings behind these Vajray ana deities nonetheless came from Hindu myth and ritual, and it is the tracing of these similarities between the deities of Hindu and Vajray ana in their characteristics that provides the basis of Crowley’s arguments that Buddhist amr _ ita is the Vedic soma. Crowley’s analysis focuses on the Vedic myth called The Churning of the Ocean, a later account of the origins of soma sacrament. Here we learn of how the Vedic gods stole soma from the asuras, a group outside of the castes that represented the shamanic practitioners of the IVC. Crowley analyzes and compares the Vedic account with the Tibetan Buddhist Vajray ana text Immaculate Crystal Garland which recounts the principal events of the Churning of the Ocean myth, showing its origins in the earlier Sanskrit version. The parallels between Tibetan Buddhist accounts of the ori","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42469739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Nilsen, B. E. Juel, Nadine Farnes, L. Romundstad, J. Storm
While psychedelic agents are known to have powerful, but largely unexplained, effects on contents of consciousness, there is an increasing interest in the potential clinical usefulness of such drugs for therapy, and legalization is discussed in some countries. Thus, it is relevant to study the effects of psychedelic compounds not only on experience, but also on behavioral performance.Seven healthy participants performed a motor response inhibition task before, during, and after sub-anesthetic doses of intravenously administered ketamine. The infusion rate was individually adjusted to produce noticeable subjective psychedelic effects.We observed no statistically significant impact of sub-anesthetic ketamine on reaction times, omission errors, or post error slowing, relative to the preceding drug-free condition. However, we did observe significant correlations between performance impairment and self-reported, subjective altered states of consciousness, specifically experience of “anxiety” and “complex imagery.”Considering the limited number of participants and large variation in strength of self-reported experiences, further studies with wider ranges of ketamine doses and behavioral tasks are needed to determine the presence and strength of potential behavioral effects.
{"title":"Behavioral effects of sub-anesthetic ketamine in a go/no-go task","authors":"A. Nilsen, B. E. Juel, Nadine Farnes, L. Romundstad, J. Storm","doi":"10.1556/2054.2020.00126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2020.00126","url":null,"abstract":"While psychedelic agents are known to have powerful, but largely unexplained, effects on contents of consciousness, there is an increasing interest in the potential clinical usefulness of such drugs for therapy, and legalization is discussed in some countries. Thus, it is relevant to study the effects of psychedelic compounds not only on experience, but also on behavioral performance.Seven healthy participants performed a motor response inhibition task before, during, and after sub-anesthetic doses of intravenously administered ketamine. The infusion rate was individually adjusted to produce noticeable subjective psychedelic effects.We observed no statistically significant impact of sub-anesthetic ketamine on reaction times, omission errors, or post error slowing, relative to the preceding drug-free condition. However, we did observe significant correlations between performance impairment and self-reported, subjective altered states of consciousness, specifically experience of “anxiety” and “complex imagery.”Considering the limited number of participants and large variation in strength of self-reported experiences, further studies with wider ranges of ketamine doses and behavioral tasks are needed to determine the presence and strength of potential behavioral effects.","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48324968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The promise that Psychedelic Medicine holds for debilitating, treatment-resistant, disorders rests as much upon novel explanations of illness as it does upon novel treatments. If actu-alized, Psychedelic Medicine will revolutionize heath care and theories of healing. Psychedelic medicine ’ s unintended consequences may prove to be just as far-reaching, as non-ordinary states of consciousness, induced by psychedelics, raise fundamental questions about knowledge, our place in the world, and about reality itself. In particular, such states reveal the anthropocentric fi ction of an ontologically distinct Self at the heart of individual, social and ecological malaise. As the testimonies of the three authors (who, though trained therapists, assumed the role of clients in this study) reveal, psychedelic healing is an inextricably embodied process, informed by historical, social and cultural factors, and tied to community both present and past, visible and invisible. Healing occurs, at least in part, through the remembrance of and re-connection with “ things past ”— a recovering and interweaving of one ’ s personal narrative with one ’ s collective narrative, including embodied collective trauma. That the authors at the center of this study are African American women was not inci-dental to their psychedelic experiences, any more than it is accidental to their everyday embodied ways of being. The “ I ” at the center of their experiences is not an unchanging entity or substance, but a historically, culturally, and socially constituted one. And, as the experiences revealed, it is one powerfully shaped by the experience of racialized oppression. Psychedelics make short work of our pretense to self-sufficiency by removing protective shields, often forcefully, and leaving us exposed. While this can be a place of radical vulnerability, it is also, as the testimonials here show, the ground out of which healing emerges. With the presence of a skilled therapist, we can come to identify fear as nothing more than the desperate
{"title":"“Culture and psychedelic psychotherapy: Ethnic and racial themes from three black women therapists”","authors":"Anne Vallely","doi":"10.1556/2054.2020.00139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2020.00139","url":null,"abstract":"The promise that Psychedelic Medicine holds for debilitating, treatment-resistant, disorders rests as much upon novel explanations of illness as it does upon novel treatments. If actu-alized, Psychedelic Medicine will revolutionize heath care and theories of healing. Psychedelic medicine ’ s unintended consequences may prove to be just as far-reaching, as non-ordinary states of consciousness, induced by psychedelics, raise fundamental questions about knowledge, our place in the world, and about reality itself. In particular, such states reveal the anthropocentric fi ction of an ontologically distinct Self at the heart of individual, social and ecological malaise. As the testimonies of the three authors (who, though trained therapists, assumed the role of clients in this study) reveal, psychedelic healing is an inextricably embodied process, informed by historical, social and cultural factors, and tied to community both present and past, visible and invisible. Healing occurs, at least in part, through the remembrance of and re-connection with “ things past ”— a recovering and interweaving of one ’ s personal narrative with one ’ s collective narrative, including embodied collective trauma. That the authors at the center of this study are African American women was not inci-dental to their psychedelic experiences, any more than it is accidental to their everyday embodied ways of being. The “ I ” at the center of their experiences is not an unchanging entity or substance, but a historically, culturally, and socially constituted one. And, as the experiences revealed, it is one powerfully shaped by the experience of racialized oppression. Psychedelics make short work of our pretense to self-sufficiency by removing protective shields, often forcefully, and leaving us exposed. While this can be a place of radical vulnerability, it is also, as the testimonials here show, the ground out of which healing emerges. With the presence of a skilled therapist, we can come to identify fear as nothing more than the desperate","PeriodicalId":34732,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychedelic Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2020-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41716418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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