appeal to our proclivities or personal canons . When the DMN is transiently suspended , as is the case in psychedelic use , there arises an opportunity to recalibrate the narrative of self . In other words , the user has an opportunity to literally redefine , in some capacity , who they are and how they relate to their environment . Though it sounds incredible , this is thought to be made possible via neural communication generally precluded by the executive dominance of the DMN , which manages typical relations among several brain regions . By these means , novel circuits of neural communication could be seeded and reinforced with regular integrative psychotherapy . “ Mood , anxiety , and substance use disorders are among the most important contributors to global disability . Available medications are ineffective for many patients , induce significant adverse reactions , and need weeks of daily intake before therapeutic effects appear ... Evidence from carefully designed and performed open and controlled trials involving the administration of single or few doses of ( psychedelics ) suggests that these compounds have antidepressive , anxiolytic and antiaddictive properties that should be further investigated in controlled trials with larger samples sizes .” 4
Many psychiatric ailments could be characterized by an excessively rigid self-narrative 5 : depressed ruminations on perceived deficits , anxious ruminations on catastrophic cascades of potential suffering , fears of mortality and universal insignificance and the perceived need for exogenous reward to maintain cognitive homeostasis . Psychedelics are touted to directly address these rigid cruxes of self , which are maintained by the DMN , that so often drive our misery . During the psychedelic experience , the user may undergo “ profound modifications in affect ( euphoria and joy or anxiety and terror ), perceptions ( synesthesia , sensory illusions , alterations in time / space perception , blurred boundaries between self and others ), and cognition ( increased creativity and insight or confusion and disorientation ). Subjective effects can range from blissful , mystical-type experiences with positive mood to unpleasant experiences of fear , panic , dysphoria and psychotic-like effects such as depersonalization / derealization and paranoid ideation . The nature of these effects will ultimately be influenced by drug dose ( low / high ), set ( careful screening of participants ; preparation for the drug session ; personality and expectations of the subject ) and setting ( support and monitoring by prepared individuals before , during , and after the drug session ; adequate context of use )… The capacity of these drugs to induce states of consciousness resembling mystical experiences could explain their widespread ritual and religious use worldwide .” 4
The clinical effects of psychedelics and ancient “ invisible ” worlds have potentially another interesting area of overlap : an increasing number of prominent scientists , especially in computer science and physics , are beginning to consider seriously whether our universe might be a simulated , interactive reality emerging from an underlying program or code . 2 Return to the words of Maria Sabina with this code in mind : “ There is a world beyond ours that is far away , nearby , and invisible … a world where everything has already happened , and everything is known . That world … has a language of its own .” Modern physics , with its considerations of special relativity and quantum phenomena , inspires a sense of spooky suggestion that there may be far more going on in the universe than had been imagined by scientists only a century ago . The “ superstitious ” tenets of shamanic healing not only touch current medical relevance but may transcend some of today ’ s fallible conceptions of what it means to be a conscious being having a human experience .
The field of psychiatry has begun to revisit some of its most formative , humanistic roots with a new perspective . What had appeared to be superstitious ambiguity now looks to be uncannily congruent with the fruits of research . Already this research has worked to illuminate how the brain modulates consciousness . Further , understanding of this system might help us towards healing , in the case of several obstinate ailments . A momentous and paradigm-shattering potential rests on the horizon and , with eerie irony , it ’ s informed by an ancient philosophy that , until very recently , was considered outright archaic by most working in established science . On the other hand , long-term individual and societal impacts of these compounds are uncertain and may prove to introduce risks or destruction not yet observed . In either case , it behooves us to continue the rigorous study of psychedelics so that we might continue to broaden our understanding of these compounds , and of ourselves . Perhaps these curious little fungi provide a novel experience of sensorium that offers a promising route to serendipitous reformulation of consciousness . Perhaps they alter the bandwidth of perception in such a way as to put us in touch with a truer , apotheosic experience of reality . The question remains : who ’ s telling the “ old wives ’ tale ” after all ?
References
1
Carhart-Harris , R ., Leech , R ., Hellyer , P ., Shanahan , M ., Feilding , A ., Tagliazucchi , E ., . . . Nutt , D . ( 2014 , January 10 ). The entropic brain : A theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs . Retrieved August 05 , 2020 , from https :// www . frontiersin . org / articles / 10.3389 / fnhum . 2014.00020 / full
2
Moskowitz , C . ( 2016 , April 07 ). Are We Living in a Computer Simulation ? Retrieved August 05 , 2020 , from https :// www . scientificamerican . com / article / are-we-living-in-a-computer
simulation /
URBAN LEGENDS IN MEDICINE
3
Pollan , M . ( 2019 ). Natural History . In How to Change Your Mind : The New Science of Psychedelics ( pp . 104-114 ). New York , NY : Penguin Books .
4
Santos , R . G ., & Hallak , J . E . ( 2020 ). Therapeutic use of serotoninergic hallucinogens : A review of the evidence and of the biological and psychological mechanisms . Neuroscience &
Biobehavioral Reviews , 108 , 423-434 . doi : 10.1016 / j . neubiorev . 2019.12.001
5
Wallace , D . F . ( 2009 ). This is water : Some thoughts , delivered on a significant occasion about living a compassionate life . New York , NY : Little , Brown .
6
Wasson , R . G . ( 1957 ). Seeking the Magic Mushroom . TIME .
Special Thanks to : Dr . Ali Farooqui , Dr . Matthew Neal and Dr . Charles Kodner .
Dr . de Witt is a third-year resident in the University of Louisville Psychiatry program and a member of UofL ’ s House Staff Council
OCTOBER 2020 17