Does Psychedelic Integration Have an Endpoint?

Psychedelic integration refers to the process and goal of taking insights, lessons, visions, perspective shifts, and emotional breakthroughs from a psychedelic experience and applying them to one’s daily life in a positive way. This can encompass our attitudes, worldview, mental health, career, relationships, lifestyle, and so on and so forth. This process of incorporating meaningful…

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Veganism, Perfectionism, and Moral Scrupulosity

The intersection between philosophy and mental health is a broad topic, and in one essay I gave some examples of how certain philosophical positions may impact mental health, as well as emphasised that this line of causality – adopting a worldview and then becoming depressed – is not so easy to establish (the direction of…

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Looking Inward and Its Excesses: Addressing the Risks of Mindfulness

Willoughby Britton, a licensed clinical psychologist, is doing important research into the dangers, or dark side, of meditation. She is also the founder of Cheetah House, an organisation that provides information and resources for those experiencing meditation-related difficulties. In a paper published in Current Opinion in Psychology, she points to evidence indicating that too much…

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Pitfalls Associated With Metta Bhavana (Loving-Kindness Meditation)

There is an increasing amount of attention being paid to the risks of meditation, a practice that – through its mainstreaming – has wholly been associated with calmness and mental health benefits. However, a growing body of research and first-person accounts are revealing that mindfulness meditation – particularly when it’s intensive and prolonged, as on…

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The Psychedelic Afterglow: What It Feels Like and Its Therapeutic Potential

Unlike many other substances, psychedelics can create a lingering feeling of well-being, long after the altered state of consciousness has subsided. This is known as an ‘afterglow’.  Drugs like cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, and (for many) MDMA are associated with ‘comedowns’. When the high fades after the use of these drugs, you may be left with…

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