Daniel A. Hirshberg

Psychedelics are now enjoying a resurgence of both popular and scientific interest due to the rigorous documentation of their therapeutic potential. While psychedelics induce short-term alterations of brain chemistry, their long-term benefits foremost arise from the psychedelic subjectivity of patients, most of whom characterize it as among the most profound religious or spiritual experiences of their lives. Regardless of the “epistemic risks”, uncorroborated insights, and unverifiable visions, it is the psychedelic projection of the individual into the depths of the profound that catalyzes personal transformation, which is now not only qualified but quantified in many studies.