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Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Psychotomimesis in Psychedelic Science
... Noorani, who also studied psychoses in the context of psychedelics, asked whether the greatest contribution of the psychedelic renaissance might actually emerge from research into states labeled as psychotic and schizophrenic (Noorani, 2022). He advised against the normalization of the contraindication of psychedelics in people with family histories of psychosis and other 'major disorders'. ...
This paper is now included as Chapter 8 in the book 'Psychedelic Therapy in Practice: Case Studies of Self-Treatment, Individual Therapy, and Group Therapy', available for free and without registration as a PDF file at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385040342
... An important but sidelined question for psychedelic medicalization is whether the prevalence and normalization of PAT impacts movements to depathologise, destigmatise and/or better understand extreme states not produced through psychedelicsin particular, those understood through a biomedical lens as 'psychosis' or the family of 'psychotic disorder' diagnoses. One way to frame this inquiry is in terms of the psychotomimetic theory that psychedelics can help engender more empathy with madness (Friessen, 2022;Noorani, 2022). This offers a different take on the liberatory impact of psychedelic normalization than the call for people with psychotic disorder diagnoses to not be excluded from trials (which by contrast might be considered as a form of PAT market expansion, thereby aligning more closely with Prilleltensky's above definition of 'co-optation'). ...
With a surge in critiques levelled against the evidence generated by randomised controlled trials in the study of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), and the legalization of PAT in select jurisdictions such as Australia, and Oregon and Colorado in the United States, we consider what form the real-world evidence of its effects could take. Specifically, we propose to complement individual-level data-gathering (the usual remit of pharmacovigilance procedures) with evidence of PAT's collective effects. Taking our cue from long-standing claims that psychedelics are agents of social transformation, we draw upon the ‘transformative paradigm’ of evaluation, an approach that is itself oriented around social justice and change vis-à-vis marginalised expertise – or what we approach as ‘the grassroots’. To illustrate the potential of such grassroots evaluations, we offer eight examples of social issues that have been discussed in relation to PAT and psychedelics use and, for each, discuss the kinds of expertise that could be brought into the evaluation team and the kinds of questions that could be asked. We further describe our grassroots approach according to three values inspired by the qualities of grass roots themselves: rhizomatic accountability, dark reflexivity, and more-than-human hosting. We argue that these values align with the contemporary experience, practice, and context of PAT. We hope to generate discussion, innovation, and – ultimately – action toward specific study designs that are adequate to the task of documenting, and working with, the transformative potential of psychedelics in contemporary medicalized societies.
... Noorani, que também estudou psicoses no contexto dos psicodélicos, perguntou se a maior contribuição do renascimento psicodélico poderia realmente emergir da pesquisa em estados rotulados como psicóticos e esquizofrênicos (Noorani, 2022). Ele aconselhou contra a normalização da contra-indicação de psicodélicos em pessoas com histórico familiar de psicose e outros 'transtornos graves'. ...
Este artigo agora está incluído como Capítulo 8 no livro 'Terapia Psicodélica na Prática: Estudos de Caso de Autotratamento, Terapia Individual e Terapia de Grupo' (em inglês), disponível gratuitamente e sem registro como um arquivo PDF em: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385040342
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Ayahuasca é uma bebida vegetal de origem indígena amazônica. Possui efeitos psicodélicos, antiinflamatórios, neu-roprotetores, citotóxicos e antiparasitários, principalmente devidos aos inibidores da monoamina oxidase (IMAO) e N,N-dimetiltriptamina (DMT). Este estudo de caso retrospectivo descreve o caso de uma mulher de trinta e tantos anos com trauma complexo devido a abuso sexual grave durante anos na primeira infância, resultando em uma condição crônica de décadas envolvendo tendências suicidas. Ela foi diagnosticada com transtorno bipolar e transtorno de personalidade limítrofe, mas se recusou a aceitar qualquer um deles. Ela apresentava delírios para-sitários e profunda dissociação. Apesar de ser gravemente psicótica em particular, ela parecia funcionar bem em público, escondendo a maioria de seus sintomas. Com trinta e poucos anos, ela participou de uma cerimônia de ayahuasca em um ambiente legal. Resolveu sua tendência suicida, eliminou seu isolamento social e reduziu sua vergonha relacionada ao trauma inicial. Mais nove cerimônias aliviaram ainda mais sua angústia. Seu agressor também participou de uma cerimônia de ayahuasca e confirmou suas memórias de abuso na infância. A primeira entrevista foi realizada 1,5 anos após sua primeira cerimônia e uma entrevista de acompanhamento 2,5 anos depois. Ela passou por dezesseis cerimônias adicionais, reconheceu a validade de seu diagnóstico de transtorno bipolar e acreditou que seu trauma precoce era aúnica causa. Seu trauma central permaneceu parcialmente sem resolução, mas seus sintomas dissociativos continuaram a diminuir. Ela observou vários outros casos de psicose e transtorno bipolar nos quais a ayahuasca resultou em efeitos positivos. Este estudo de caso contribui para uma melhor compreensão do uso da ayahuasca no transtorno bipolar e no traumatismo grave. Também revisa o estado da arte atual no tratamento do transtorno bipolar usando ayahuasca em baixas doses e um caso em que o transtorno bipolar foi resolvido com LSD.
... Noorani, who also studied psychoses in the context of psychedelics, asked whether the greatest contribution of the psychedelic renaissance might actually emerge from research into states labeled as psychotic and schizophrenic (Noorani, 2022). He advised against the normalization of the contraindication of psychedelics in people with family histories of psychosis and other 'major disorders'. ...
This paper is now included as Chapter 8 in the book 'Psychedelic Therapy in Practice: Case Studies of Self-Treatment, Individual Therapy, and Group Therapy', available for free and without registration as a PDF file at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385040342
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.