There are two kinds of stigma when it comes to mental illness. There is the public stigma, which is the negative reaction of the general public to people with mental health issues, and there is self-stigma: the shame, disapproval, and disgrace that people with a condition feel towards themselves for having that condition. A great…
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There is huge progress going on in the field of psychedelic research. The first study with the psychedelic drug, LSD, has just taken place – after a 40-year halt in research opportunities. In 1968 LSD was banned in the US, leading to a suspension of the busy, vast and promising LSD studies that were going on…
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Allen J. Frances is an American psychiatrist who has become famous for his critique of the DSM-5, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Mental Disorders. He was also the former chair of the task force that published the DSM-IV, the fourth edition of the DSM. The DSM is published by the American…
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This lecture, ‘Why Study Psychedelic Drugs?’, is from ‘A Discussion on Scientific Research with Psychedelic Drugs’, a conference chaired by Professor David Nutt at Imperial College London (12/06/2013). In this lecture, Professor David Nutt outlines why the scientific investigation of psychedelic drugs is worthwhile and valuable. He points to the fact that actual scientific discoveries…
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Many know that the ‘high’ or effects of cannabis are caused by its psychoactive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This might lead one to assume that if you could consume the THC, without any of the plant matter (either by smoking or eating it), then you could experience a pure cannabis high. In fact, what you would…
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