Podcast: Metaplasticity and Reopening Critical Periods with Psychedelics

This podcast discusses how psychedelics reopen critical periods of learning, and how the true benefit of psychedelics could be in learning how best to reopen those critical periods, how long they’re open for, and which therapeutic frameworks and integration practices could best take advantage of them.

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Podcast: The Shadow Side of Psychedelics

This interview was recorded at the Psychedelic Science 2023 Conference, and discussed are the pitfalls of psychedelics:

how the nature of capitalism and returning profits to shareholders affects the concept of set and setting; how easy it is to prescribe ketamine and the puppy mill clinics popping up everywhere; how innovators are racing to the bottom to get ahead; the designer drug epidemic likely leading us to a Prozac Nation 2.0; digital narcissism, Instagram “Shamans,” and the dangers of cults; chemists trying to take the experience out of the drug; the overuse of psychedelics creating super egos; and much more.

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Risks with Psychedelics

This study looked at quantitative and qualitative data from 608 participants who reported extended difficulties following psychedelic experiences.

The most common forms of extended difficulty were feelings of anxiety and fear, existential struggle, social disconnection, depersonalization and derealization.

For approximately one-third of the participants, problems persisted for over a year, and for a sixth, they endured for more than three years.

It was found that a shorter duration of difficulties was predicted by knowledge of dose, drug type and lower levels of difficulty reported during the psychoactive experience, while a narrower range of difficulties was predicted by taking the drug in a guided setting.

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