Flow States, Peak Experiences, and the Psychology of Well-Being

A ‘flow state’ is a state of deep focus and absorption when engaged in an activity, which involves a loss of self-consciousness and alterations to one’s sense of time. Flow states are common: they can occur when we are engaged in a variety of activities – from playing music to running – and in some…

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In Search of New Terrain: Similarities Between Travel and the Psychedelic Experience

A psychedelic experience is commonly referred to as a ‘trip’ or a ‘journey’, and the analogy with travel is a helpful one; psychedelics take you to new internal territory, whereas travelling takes you to new external territory. But I believe there are several ways in which we can compare tripping to travelling, and these similarities…

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Can Psychedelics Make People More Drawn to Conspiracy Theories?

It is widely known that psychedelics and cannabis are associated with non-conventional thinking. The way that these psychoactive substances change how people think – including cannabis, which can have mild and sometimes profound psychedelic effects – can be viewed with serious interest; psychedelics can, after all, alter people’s metaphysical beliefs, including those of psychologists and…

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