Psychedelics, Psychosis and Manic Symptoms

A new study analyzed data from the Swedish Twin Registry, a national dataset that includes self-reported drug use and psychotic and manic symptom occurrence.

The researchers’ analyses found no significant association between psychedelic use and psychotic symptoms, but in comparing identical twin pairs in which one had taken psychedelics while the other had not, the twin who’d tried psychedelics was more likely to report experiencing manic symptoms.

In the twin data researchers reviewed, mania was also strongly correlated with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and to bipolar I disorder.

In other words, those who experienced manic symptoms after psychedelic use may have been more genetically prone to mental illnesses.

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The Importance of Therapy!

A study published recently in PLOS One suggests that therapy may, in fact, play an important role in psilocybin-assisted therapy for major depressive disorder.

In a study of 24 participants with MDD, those who reported stronger alliance, or “sense of collaboration between patient and client,” with their therapist were more likely to show improvements in their depression scores after two psilocybin dosing sessions.

Stronger ratings of therapeutic alliance during the study’s final preparation session were correlated with improved depression scores for 12 months after the study.

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Ceremonial Psychedelic Use at Ancient Biblical Site in Israel

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that psychoactive plants were ceremonially ingested at Philistine temples in the ancient biblical city of Gath, within what is now the state of Israel.

They discovered remnants of the entheogenic plant poison darnel and other non-psychoactive plants that are mainly known to be connected with the worship of female Greek deities.

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