Sam Woolfe
Freelance Writer, Blogger & Author

The Backlash Against Overdiagnosis and Self-Diagnosis Has Fed Into Mental Health Stigma

The Backlash Against Overdiagnosis and Self-Diagnosis Has Fed Into Mental Health Stigma

It might be assumed that the problems of mental health overdiagnosis and self-diagnosis culture would only serve to promote more openness around mental health (despite the fact they sometimes pathologise normal and understandable distress). However, the backlash against these intertwined phenomena has resulted in increased cynicism and scepticism towards a general culture of emotional openness.…

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Deliriants and Spirituality: AA Founder Bill Wilson’s Path to Sobriety

Deliriants and Spirituality: AA Founder Bill Wilson’s Path to Sobriety

Many members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) may not be aware that the organisation’s founder, Bill Wilson, was an advocate of LSD. This may seem like a strange fact, given that for AA members, achieving ‘sobriety’ tends to mean total abstinence not just from alcohol but all mind-altering substances. However, Wilson – based on his own…

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Syndeogens: Psychedelics as Connection-Generating Agents

Syndeogens: Psychedelics as Connection-Generating Agents

I previously wrote about how we can think of psychedelics as trickster chemicals, based on how their effects often align with the attributes of the trickster archetype. This is not meant to replace other terms for psychedelics, such as entheogen or medicine, but merely supplement them. But there are other unique and common effects that…

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The Meaning-Enhancing Effect of Psychedelics Can Be Both Helpful and Harmful

The Meaning-Enhancing Effect of Psychedelics Can Be Both Helpful and Harmful

During a psychedelic experience, everything can appear more meaningful and significant – everything in both the outer world (what we are perceiving) and the inner world (all the thoughts and ideas we are having). Geometric hallucinations can appear deeply significant, as can spontaneous insights about ourselves, the world, and fundamental reality. Psychedelics have long been…

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Some Reflections on the Backlash Against Psychedelic Hype

Some Reflections on the Backlash Against Psychedelic Hype

The hype surrounding psychedelics can be characterised as an overly positive picture of the benefits of psychedelics and an attitude of overlooking, ignoring, or downplaying the harms and risks of these compounds. We can view this as Pollyannaism applied to psychedelics. The growing psychedelic industry can be seen as following the trend of the Gartner…

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