Having imaginary arguments with people in our heads is something we all do from time to time, although maybe you do it fairly often, which can make you ask yourself: is arguing this much in my head normal? Why am I doing it? Imaginary arguments, especially when they become intrusive and regular, are an interesting…
View Post
In many discussions around psychedelics, there can be a tendency to focus on how these compounds alleviate various ills, rather than on what they can positively add to people’s lives. This speaks to a more general theme in the psychological field, where there is a preference for trying to resolve the negative and maladaptive aspects…
View Post
The Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl argued that many people in the general public are experiencing what he called an ‘existential vacuum’: the belief that life is without meaning. He furthermore believed that this sense of a lack of meaning was the root of many of society’s ills, including the problem of drug addiction. Many kinds…
View Post
Addiction is a growing worldwide problem – and this applies to all kinds of addictions: behavioural (e.g. sex, gambling, and internet use), illegal drugs (e.g. heroin and cocaine), and legal substances (e.g. alcohol and prescription drugs). Traditional treatment for these addictions includes full-time rehab and further plans like staying at sober houses that focus on…
View Post
Augustin Lesage (1876 – 1954) was a French coal miner who later became an artist, following the direction of a voice he heard. As an artist, he was untrained and is thus considered an outsider artist or as part of the art brut movement (another term for outsider art). The French artist Jean Dubuffet coined…
View Post