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A phenomenological examination of psilocybin use and its positive and persisting aftereffects

This study is an examination of the positive and persisting psychological and behavioral aftereffects in eight individuals who reported consumption of psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Mushrooms containing psilocybin have been used for healing and spiritual purposes for thousands of years, and the therapeutic applications of psilocybin were scientifically examined beginning in the mid-20th century. Research from this era suggested that psilocybin was indicated as an effective adjunct to psychotherapy for conditions such as depression, anxiety, chemical dependency, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Recent research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine demonstrated that participants who consumed psilocybin reported having profoundly meaningful experiences, and that these participants experienced persisting and positive changes to their mood, attitude, and behavior at 1-month and 14-month follow up. However, there has not yet been ample research examining the mechanism of the connection between participants’ experience with psilocybin and the existence of these positive and persisting aftereffects. This study employed a phenomenological approach, using an unstructured interview to gain an understanding of participants’ description of this mechanism. Eight adults were interviewed who reported using psilocybin in the past. A within-case analysis and cross-case analysis were conducted on the data, producing 11 themes within three categories: Set (which included the themes of Preliminary Anxiety and Substantial Preparation); Experience of Psilocybin Effect (which included the themes of Profound Shift in Attention, Unity Consciousness, Increased Introspection, Positive Emotional State, and Transcendental Experience); and Persisting Aftereffects (which included the themes of Short Term Reduction in Anxiety, Persisting Insight, Assistance with Psychological Distress, and Inspired Behavioral Change). Participants maintained insights gained during their experience of psilocybin far beyond the course of the substance. This research suggests that the positive and persisting aftereffects related to the consumption of psilocybin may be useful for psychological healing and growth, and that these aftereffects should continue to be studied.

Learning to fly: The transformative aspects of the rave experience

The phenomenon of the post-modern rave experience and its parallels to ancient Eastern traditions and practices are presented in this artistic-creative production thesis. A heuristic method examines the spiritual, religious, and transformative aspects of rave culture. Through exploring pre-patriarchal conceptions of love, sexuality, and the pursuit of ecstasy a connection between the rave experience and the honoring of the divine feminine is established. The author‘s memoir Learning to Fly: A Memoir (Sherk, 2010) describes a transcendent journey of love, loss, death, and rebirth through the lens of Campbell‘s (2008) hero‘s journey. In the process, the author realizes the repressed feminine aspects living within her and, through her own pursuit of ecstasy—both within rave culture and beyond—experiences transcendence of traditional Western patriarchal conceptions of love and sexuality. Further, it is posited that the balancing of both the masculine and the feminine is essential in the quest for healing.

Psychedelics and hypnosis: Commonalities and therapeutic implications

Background: Recent research on psychedelics and hypnosis demonstrates the value of both methods in the treatment of a range of psychopathologies with overlapping applications and neurophenomenological features. The potential of harnessing the power of suggestion to influence the phenomenological response to psychedelics toward more therapeutic action has remained unexplored in recent research and thereby warrants empirical attention.

Aims: Here we aim to elucidate the phenomenological and neurophysiological similarities and dissimilarities between psychedelic states and hypnosis in order to revisit how contemporary knowledge may inform their conjunct usage in psychotherapy.

Methods: We review recent advances in phenomenological and neurophysiological research on psychedelics and hypnosis, and we summarize early investigations on the coupling of psychedelics and hypnosis in scientific and therapeutic contexts. Results/outcomes: We highlight commonalities and differences between psychedelics and hypnosis that point to the potential efficacy of combining the two in psychotherapy. We propose multiple research paths for coupling these two phenomena at different stages in the preparation, acute phase and follow-up of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in order to prepare, guide and integrate the psychedelic experience with the aim of enhancing therapeutic outcomes.

Conclusions/interpretation: Harnessing the power of suggestion to modulate response to psychedelics could enhance their therapeutic efficacy by helping to increase the likelihood of positive responses, including mystical-type experiences.

Intoxication and Society: Problematic Pleasures of Drugs and Alcohol

Intoxicants, substances that alter a person’s mental and physiological state, are a continuing obsession. In their effect on the mind and body, intoxicants go to the heart of what it means to be human. In the tensions between ‘free’ and uninhibited consumption on the one hand, and the pressures of social regulation and personal responsibility on the other, they also illuminate the daily paradoxes, and sheer complexity, of living in modern Western societies. Yet this complexity, and the rich history that underpins it, is often lost in the current debates over public policy.

Intoxication and Society sets out to supplement the contemporary discourse surrounding intoxication with a more nuanced appreciation of the history and nature of what is very much a multidimensional problem. It does so by employing an interdisciplinary framework that includes contributions from leading academics in law, sociology, anthropology, history, literature, neuroscience and social psychology.

The result is a subtle historical and contemporary rereading of the social construction of intoxication that will provide a secure basis for analysis as society continues to respond to the problematic pleasures of intoxication.

Pharmacology and Abuse of Cocaine, Amphetamines, Ecstasy and Related Designer Drugs

From the publisher, Finally – a book that covers all aspects of the illicit use of cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy and/or designer drugs such as GHB, written by two experts in their field. The use of these drugs remains a continuous threat in health and medical care delivery, and this book will be an essential asset to the physician who may have to face the evaluation of patients whose use of these drugs compromises an effective treatment plan for other health issues.

The book has been conceived to fill the void in existing physician reference materials, and provides a comprehensive review of the theoretical knowledge and scope of pharmacotherapy in individuals who are hooked on a psychoactive substance.

While detailed scientific information is obtainable in other major articles, the book’s straightforward format and style, along with its illustrations, will make for easy reading as emphasis is put on information specifically related to drugs that occur most abused in today’s society. The information provided is based on clinical practice rather than pure experimental data, which will give the physician more effective tools useful in their daily practice. Many mechanisms of action of abuse are described in detail and references are provided to direct the reader to further sources for additional information.

As a special feature, the book incorporates uncluttered tables and charts, which result in immediate clarification of the mode of action on the central nervous system and the reason for misuse, thus avoiding usual long and fatiguing text in common reference books. The book aims to give the reader a clear and concise plan on what to do when being faced with an overdose situation.

A well-organized Table of Contents rapidly leads the reader from general pharmacological issues to the specific overdose syndrome and its management. Additionally, significant emphasis is placed on the practical do’s and don’ts for physicians, with special reference to the predictive signs of aberrant drug-related behavior and the identification of the drug diverter by using urine drug screening.

African American Folk Healing

Stephanie Y. Mitchem presents a fascinating study of African American healing. She sheds light on a variety of folk practices and traces their development from the time of slavery through the Great Migrations. She explores how they have continued into the present and their relationship with alternative medicines. Through conversations with black Americans, she demonstrates how herbs, charms, and rituals continue folk healing performances. Mitchem shows that these practices are not simply about healing; they are linked to expressions of faith, delineating aspects of a holistic epistemology and pointing to disjunctures between African American views of wellness and illness and those of the culture of institutional medicine.

Encyclopedia of Folk Medicine: Old World and New World Traditions

A wide-ranging compilation on the materia medica of the ordinary people of Britain and North America, comparing practices in both places.
Informative and engaging, yet authoritative and well researched, Encyclopedia of Folk Medicine reveals previously unexamined connections between folk medicine practices on either side of the Atlantic, as well as within different cultures (Celtic, Native American, etc.) in the United Kingdom and America. For students, school and public libraries, folklorists, anthropologists, or anyone interested in the history of medicine, it offers a unique way to explore the fascinating crossroads where social history, folk culture, and medical science meet.

From the 17th century to the present, the encyclopedia covers remedies from animal, vegetable, and mineral sources, as well as practices combining natural materia medica with rituals. Its over 200 alphabetically organized, fully cross-referenced entries allow readers to look up information both by ailment and by healing agent. Entries present both British and North American traditions side by side for easy comparison and identify the surprising number of overlaps between folk and scientific medicine.

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