cannabis fitness
altered states therapy
In essay #10 of my book ("The Double Helix of Cannabis Psychotherapeutics") I discuss a therapeutic model whereby (in the cannabis consumer) ordinary consciousness is in continual negotiation with cannabis consciousness. In this ongoing interchange of worldviews the two states of consciousness inform, support and help each other in a manner not unlike the clinical dual-brain work of Fredric Schiffer in his 1998 book Of Two Minds.
As indicated in Pollan's book, a number of investigators today (as did their predecessors in the 1950s) are finding therapeutic benefit in employing altered states of consciousness. While the psychedelic/method might vary (cannabis, psilocybin, LSD, DMT, breathwork, even special glasses as in Schiffer's work) and the exact neurodynamic might differ (dual-brain changes, default mode network deactivation, etc.), the basic therapeutic model still involves a back and forth "double helix dynamic" whereby the two states of consciousness inform, support, and help each other.
The slide on the right contains two images from Pollan's book (pgs. 318 & 319) showing brain activity/connectivity under active placebo and psilocybin mushroom influence respectively. Based on these maps along with subjective reports of study participants, the more active/connected psilocybin-influenced brain may be likened to the more open and expansive mind of the child, and perhaps the holistic mode of the right brain.
