While one of the main recognised benefits of psychedelics is a lessening or elimination of the fear of death (particularly in those with a terminal illness), this effect is not universal. Indeed, a 2025 study published in the journal Death Studies found that many people experience an increase in death anxiety after psychedelics. This possible…
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Psychedelic experiences can be weird – sometimes extremely weird. Yet, the notion of weirdness is often not the primary focus in the psychedelic renaissance or psychedelic culture. Instead, the focus is often around the therapeutic or spiritual aspects of psychedelic experiences – themes like healing, mental health, personal growth, mystical experiences, etc. This isn’t to…
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The Brain in a Vat podcast, one of my favourite podcasts – hosted by Dr Jason Werbeloff and Mark Oppenheimer – had as a guest Brad Duchaine, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth. (Brain in a Vat is a philosophy podcast, but this particular episode – a rebroadcast – was more psychology-focused.) The…
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Parallels are often made between animism (the belief that spirits are everywhere) and panpsychism (the belief that consciousness/mind is everywhere). Indeed, under an animistic belief system, it is possible to think of the term ‘spirit’ as equivalent to ‘mind’, although for the sake of clarity, we can treat the belief in discrete spirits existing in…
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One of the main motivations for creating designer psychedelics – or analogues of existing compounds – is to evade bans. LSD is illegal, so an analogue can be created (typically a purported prodrug of LSD), allowing people to have an LSD experience without worrying about arrest. And when the analogue is banned, a different one…
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