Accurate staging

Online quizzes are a great way to answer questions like: Which Hogwarts house do you belong in? They are not ideal for answering questions like: What kind of therapeutic protocol should I follow? The best way to answer that question is by consulting a psychotherapist or a psychiatrist. However, this article may prove a helpful, fact-based guide to point you in a good direction. There are two commonalities to the therapies below. Firstly, some tend to forget the "therapy" part of psychedelic therapy. None of the treatments outlined below are solely about the substance. For each, it’s important to have a good relationship with the practitioner administering the substance. Secondly, all of these treatments work by, in some way or another, affecting the neuroplasticity in your brain. “Neuroplasticity” is not the amount of plastic in your neurons but rather something akin to the flexibility of your mind and the ability to transcend fixed routines or patterns of thought. MDMA … [Read more...] about What Kind of Psychedelic Therapy Is Right for You?

Source: Wikimedia Commons | Nobu Tamura People have long pondered what consciousness actually is. Consciousness seems very different from other biological functions—like some sort of nonmaterial essence within our heads. Thoughts and feelings seem ethereal, untethered from anything physical. Self-awareness seems like a phenomenon utterly divorced from anything that could possibly be produced by cells comprised of physical particles. People used to think of life itself that way too, and many still do. But biologists solved the enigma of what makes things alive mid-way through the twentieth century, the foundations of that understanding having been built over the preceding century. Before that, living things were believed to possess some sort of animating essence that accounted for their difference from inanimate matter. People could not imagine how the same material particles that comprise inanimate matter could be arranged in such a way as to make something alive , without … [Read more...] about What Actually Is Consciousness, and How Did It Evolve?

I think that I may take a stroll, And buy myself a toilet roll. At home it will be safely stowed, With the other pallet-load. — Pam Ayres Panic buying is common during disasters like the coronavirus pandemic. Before a winter storm, for example, somewhat irrationally, consumers tend to strip grocery store shelves bare of the so-called holy trinity of bread, milk, and eggs. In contrast, when a hurricane is about to hit, indulgences such as liquor and Pop-Tarts, and bottled water are popular purchases. After an earthquake, especially a severe one , pretty much everything in the grocery store is fair game for panic shoppers. What's more, panic buying of any item can even break out without any reason at all, simply based on rumor . As I've written on this blog , panic buying does not make for smart shopping decisions. In fact, it can have severe negative ramifications on consumers’ personal finances. This begs the questions: Why do consumers panic buy? And … [Read more...] about Why Are We Panic Buying During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

“Music can change the world because it can change people.” — Bono The brain adapts. What isn’t used is lost, and what’s used constantly is bolstered. If a finger or entire limb is removed, the part of the brain responsible for interpreting its sensory information will shrink, being overtaken by regions responsible for intact portions of the body. If tactile stimulation increases—say your fingertips are constantly poked or prodded—the corresponding cortical areas will expand. In 1995, Thomas Elbert—working at the University of Konstanz in Germany—led an experiment that applied this principle of adaptability to the brains of musicians. Given that musicians like violinists require a considerable amount of manual dexterity, and they constantly use their fingers to press down on the strings of their instruments, Elbert wondered if the brain regions associated with those areas would be different. Recruiting nine people that played the violin, the cello, or guitar, the researchers … [Read more...] about Your Brain on Music

Source: Elia Pellegrini/Unsplash I mentioned several months back that I’m writing in fits and starts my memoir. I’ve actually be ‘trying’ to write it for at least a decade. I know Yoda – 'Do or Do Not. There is no try.' But I beg to differ in this case. Or maybe you’re right. I ‘do’ but I have ‘do’ well. I haven’t been happy with the ‘do’ that I have done. I guess you could l call ‘do doo’. Oh dear. Anyway…I wanted to let in on why it’s been so hard for me. Maybe you can offer some insight, support or ideas. Why has it been so difficult for me to write? Well, my mental illness (perhaps like some other people’s) is a big yarn ball of psychotic and spiritual experiences. I’m trying to tease them apart; make sense of them. I’m wanting to shed light on the intersection of spiritual experience and mental illness; the struggle I had and still have of knowing my mental illness and extraordinary experiences can co-exist without minimizing either. When I’ve written my plays, I … [Read more...] about Is There Something Spiritual about Psychosis?