When Neurology Becomes Theology
In this piece for Nautilus, Robert A. Burton discusses how research into the essence of consciousness is more of a theological, religious exploration than a neurological...
Tell Us 5 Things About Your Book: ‘The Mind of God’
From The New York Times: In his new book The Mind of God, neurologist Jay Lombard uses his experience studying neuroscience to discuss philosophical and spiritual...
Human Connection is the Antidote to a Culture of Isolation
We need to burn through some darkness before we collectively see the light. The light is a palpable shift toward reaching for human connection; toward opening our hearts and our minds and intentionally focusing on the positive future that wants to emerge.
Why Getting out of our Head is Good for us
From Philosophy for Life: Though often pathologized by psychiatry and western science, spiritual experiences and altered states of consciousness can actually be highly therapeutic and valuable.
"Having...
The Promise of LSD Microdoses and Other Psychedelics
In this interview for Scientific American, psychiatrist John Halpern discusses some of the potentially therapeutic effects of peyote, ayahuasca, psilocybin, MDMA and other psychedelics.
"Once when...
When Will We Wake? Reflections on Suicide and Psychotropic Medications
What are we doing to our people? What life have we created for our youth? I want to believe that those struggling individuals for whom life became unbearable under the influence of medication cocktails have not died in vain. I have chosen to see their action as both a sacrifice and statement to all of us.
Spiritual Texts in the Psych Ward
With current self-publishing capabilities, thereâs little that can stop anyone with the slightest messianic complex from actualizing their potential as a prophetâexcept perhaps the tactics psychiatry employs: forced drugging, locking people up and limiting their abilities to communicate with the rest of the world.
Dissolving the Ego: Transcendence and Ecstasy
From Aeon: Experiencing ecstasy and transcendence has long been pathologized and marginalized by Western culture and the psychiatric model of "mental illness." However, ecstatic experiences, including...
Sunday History Channel: Did Ancient Buddhist Tales Prophesy the DSM-5?
On the Sri Lankan social media platform LankaWeb, medical doctor Ruwan M. Jayatunge recounts stories of difficult states of mind described in the ancient...
If You Don’t Have a Brain…
When we force people to take psychiatric drugs, or lie to get them to take the drugs, we are not only harming the organ of their body called the brainâwe are harming their capacity to think and to feel and to know themselves. We are limiting their personality and identity, and the expression of their soul.
Creatively Managing Voice-Hearing Through Spiritual Writing
I am a psychiatric survivor of over thirty-six years. Since my nervous breakdown in 1978, I have undergone multitudinous experiences ranging from the subtly humiliating to the horrifically debilitating at the hands of incompetent psychiatrists and psychopharmacologists who, in the name of medicine, did more harm than good.
The Psychedelic Miracle
From Rolling Stone Magazine: Both the underground practice of and aboveground research on the use of psychedelic drugs to heal PTSD, as well as depression, anxiety,...
I Was God: And You Were A Figment Of My Imagination
The drugs combined with my desire to know how life worked and what made a human broke down all past social conditioning of my individual self. I realized I was God. So was everyone else and I shared with anyone who would listen, but found no one who could understand or navigate the territory. There was little internet to speak of then and no Google to find others who experienced life as I was, so I voyaged on my own as best I could.
Stories from the Psych Ward: Why Drugs Aren’t the Cure
In this piece for Elephant Journal, one man tells his story of being locked up and forcibly drugged in the psych ward, and how he...
New Data on the Adverse Effects of Meditation and Mindfulness
Study reports on the less-examined findings of difficult and painful meditation-related experiences.
Reading the Bible Through Neuroscience
In this interview for The Atlantic, James Kugel speculates on the minds and experiences of ancient prophets through a neuroscientific lens, exploring how biblical people's sense of...
Mental Health Professionals Critique the Biomedical Model of Psychological Problems
While a great deal of the excitement about advances in psychological treatments comes from the potential for research in neuroscience to unlock the secrets of the brain, many mental health experts would like to temper this enthusiasm. A special issue of the Behavior Therapist released this month calls into question the predominant conception of mental illnesses as brain disorders.
A Liberation Journey with Images
I am humbled to share with you my lifeâs journey, and more importantly to convey a recent experience that has transmuted everything, opening up a new frontier of being more fully alive. I am beginning to see the invisible; or should I say I am beginning to feel it, because it is an inner experience.
Snapshots of Spring: Journeying Off Psych Meds After 20 Years of Compliance
My prayer to be taken out of my misery was answered, just not the way I used to envision. I managed to escape the system and here I am in the same lifetime, alive and well. Iâm slowly getting acquainted with this new setup and am eternally grateful for yet another opportunity at life, which I hope does not slip through my fingers.
Reintroducing Spirituality Could Address the Mental Health Crisis
From The Independent: Society's cycle of compulsive consumerism and materialism is partly to blame for Britain's mental health crisis. Instead of merely referring people to...
Psychics Who Hear Voices Could Be on to Something
In this piece for The Atlantic, Joseph Frankel compares and contrasts the voice-hearing experiences of self-described psychics and mediums with the experiences of people diagnosed with...
McMindfulness: Buddhism as Sold to You by Neoliberals
From The Conversation: Removed from their ethical and contextual roots, mindfulness-based practices are increasingly being used to reinforce the individualist ideals of capitalist societies.
"Indeed mindfulness-based practices...
How an Ancient Singing Tradition Helps People Cope With Trauma
From YES! Magazine: Lament singing, an ancient tradition once observed for spiritual purposes during funerals, weddings, and times of war, is now seeing a revival in...
‘Ego-Dissolving’ Psychedelic Drugs Could Improve Mental Health
From Medical Xpress: Researchers have proposed that psychedelic drugs such as LSD and magic mushrooms may help some people with anxiety, depression, and addiction by dissolving...
Shaman: Mental illness is âgood news from the other worldâ
Mental disorders are spiritual emergencies, according to Malidoma Patrice SomĂ© in âWhat a Shaman Sees in a Mental Hospitalâ published in Earth. We are...
