People with a personal or family history of bipolar disorder (a condition marked by extreme mood swings) are typically excluded from being participants in psychedelic clinical trials. While research continues to show that psychedelic therapy, such as psilocybin therapy, is helpful for depression (which is an aspect of bipolar disorder), the mania that bipolar patients…
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Clifford Sosis interviewed me for the website What Is It Like to Be a Philosopher?, and on the subject of psychedelics, he remarked, “I’m always disappointed by reports of drug fueled insights…merely seems like the effect of…I don’t know…the chemical disorganization of the brain?” I partly agreed (but not with the point about reducing all…
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One of the applications of medical cannabis is for the improvement of mental health. In the UK (where I’m from), you can be prescribed medical cannabis to counteract the symptoms of a range of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Private cannabis clinics are seeing a rise in the number of patients who…
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The decision to provide a mental health diagnosis to someone experiencing psychological distress – a range of troubling emotions, thoughts, and behaviours – often presents a moral dilemma. Of course, there may be an assumption among psychiatrists that diagnoses are, generally speaking, in a patient’s best interest, since they are intended to pinpoint what condition…
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How can you know if a distressing state of mind you’re experiencing is a sign of a mental health condition or is something within the parameters of so-called ‘normal’, non-pathological human experience? This is an extremely thorny question – and for any individuals asking themselves it, in such times of distress, no solid, unwavering answers…
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