Altered Mates 2m3k71

This episode is a continuation of our discussion on Borderline Personality Disorder, which is a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. Whereas in Episode 26 — On the Borderline, we concern ourselves with the defining BPD, and getting our heads around the diagnostic criteria in the DSM V, in this episode we discuss treatment and causes of the disorder, as well as considerations around its social construction. It should be ed that a diagnosis of a personality disorder like “borderline” says a lot about the society in which the diagnosis was developed. Keep in mind, these disorders are “decided upon” rather than “discovered”. And though they are certainly pointing towards something, they must be understood as constructions, born of particular social, historical, economic, and political factors. References Bjorklund, P., 2006. No man's land: Gender bias and social constructivism in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Issues in mental health nursing, 27(1), pp.3-23. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01612840500312753) James ‘Fish’ Gill: https://www.instagram.com/james_fish_gill/ // Buy Fish’s new book: How To Fall In Love With Humanity Johnstone, Lucy & Boyle, Mary & Cromby, John & Dillon, Jacqui & Harper, David & Kinderman, Peter & Longden, Eleanor & Pilgrim, David & Read, John. (2019). Reflections on responses to the Power Threat Meaning Framework one year on. Clinical Psychology Forum. 2019. 47-54. (https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/bpsf/1/313/47) Stanley Kubrick (1987) Full Metal Jacket Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good (2013) written by James Davies Altered Mates — Episode 16 — On “Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good Lester, R. (2013). Lessons from the borderline: Anthropology, psychiatry, and the risks of being human. Feminism & Psychology. 23. 70-77. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959353512467969) IFS Institute — The Internal Family Systems Model Outline Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.

In this episode we discuss Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), also referred to as Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD). Somewhat unintentionally Alejandro gives an overview of the TV show Bojack Horseman but this leads to a discussion of the characteristics of BPD using the character of Bojack as an example. We also bring in Anakin Skywalker as another example of a fictional character who may potentially fit the characteristics of someone diagnosed with BPD. We centre our discussion around a 2006 paper written by Pamela Bjorklund titled, “No man's land: Gender bias and social constructivism in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder”. In the process, we break down the diagnostic criteria used in the DSM V for BPD but if you’re interested, see below: Borderline Personality Disorder: A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) or the following: Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behaviour covered in Criterion 5) A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterised by alternatingbetween extremes of idealisation and devaluation Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g. spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating) (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behaviour covered in Criterion 5) Recurrent suicidal behaviour, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behaviour Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g. intense episodic dysphoria, irritability or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days) Chronic feelings of emptiness Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g. frequent displays of temper,constant anger, recurrent physical fights) Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms References Bjorklund, P., 2006. No man's land: Gender bias and social constructivism in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Issues in mental health nursing, 27(1), pp.3-23. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01612840500312753) Johnstone, Lucy & Boyle, Mary & Cromby, John & Dillon, Jacqui & Harper, David & Kinderman, Peter & Longden, Eleanor & Pilgrim, David & Read, John. (2019). Reflections on responses to the Power Threat Meaning Framework one year on. Clinical Psychology Forum. 2019. 47-54. (https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/bpsf/1/313/47) Lester, R. (2013). Lessons from the borderline: Anthropology, psychiatry, and the risks of being human. Feminism & Psychology. 23. 70-77. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959353512467969) Molly Adler — Back from the Borderline Podcast — https://pod.link/1576242501/episode/b66e124fcbc8095cac0f959cac5f32a1 Girl, Interrupted (1999). Director by James Mangold. Story by Susanna Kaysen. Episode 15 — One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) directed by Milos Forman One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) written by Ken Kesey Bojack Horseman (2014—2020) Bojack blogpost on Tumblr by @characterdiagnosis Star Wars Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (2005) intense dysphoria and “that” ayahuasca ceremony… Episode 22 — Ayahuasca & The Fear Gabrielle Brand, Monash University Brand G, Wise S, Walpole K. A dis-ordered personality? It's time to reframe borderline personality disorder. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2021 Jun; 28(3):469-475 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpm.12682) Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.

In this episode we go on a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream through an immersion into Hunter S. Thompson and Terry Gilliam’s nightmarish Las Vegas. We discuss Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 masterwork of “Gonzo” journalism, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and along side it, Terry Gilliam’s wonderful 1998 film adaptation. In our usual way we get fully derailed for a while and just as we seem to be driving our huge Chevy convertible away from Las Vegas, we finally answer that call from our attorney to head straight back in to the belly of the beast to consider the demise of the American Counterculture of the 1960s and finish off this savage, sweat inducing, blood and rum soaked trip of an episode. References Hunter S. Thompson (1971) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Terry Gilliam (1998) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Jack Kerouac (1957) On the Road Diane di Prima James Truslow Adams (1931) The Epic of America Black Sabbath — Master of Reality (1971) — Sweet Leaf Rage Against the Machine (1992) Know Your Enemy. (recent live version here). BBC — Planet Earth II — Iguana vs Snakes Altered Mates — Episode 6 — F-ing the ineffable: William James, Mysticism, and the Psychedelic Experience Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.

In this episode of the podcast we continue our discussion of the first thirty pages of Ramsey Dukes’ essay on magical thinking; “Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed”, commonly abbreviated to S.S.O.T.B.M.E. Dukes’ model of com directions differentiates between Art, Magic, Religion and Science, and the modes of thinking associated with each direction. In Dukes’ model of the four com directions Dukes suggests that, “Magic, Art, Religion and Science represent movement towards Wholeness, Beauty, Goodness and Truth respectively.” These com points, according to Dukes, don't have to conflict with each other; they can exist alongside each other. One doesn’t have to be correct and the rest wrong. An intelligent person can allow them to co-exist and use or adopt one or more as each situation calls for them. We take our time to discuss functional specialisation in the brain, and in particular, hemispheric specialisation. Research into the human brain has consistently found areas of functional specialisation. For example, verbal cognition is processed largely in the left hemisphere of the brain of most people, and imagery or spatial cognition is largely processed in the right hemisphere of most brains, and the frontal lobes in each hemisphere are responsible for executive functioning, or higher cognitive functions like organisation, planning and decision making. Prominent researchers Miller and Cummings used PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and fMRI (functional magnetic imaging) scans to functional specialization of the frontal cortex—finding the left frontal cortex active in verbal working memory processes and and visuospatial working memory in the right frontal cortex. In our discussion we agree that there seems to be some more occluded areas of the brain or nervous system responsible for some of the functions Ramsey Dukes is evoking when he writes about the kind of processing going on in magical thinking. Dukes writes, “I want to suggest that our brains have evolved a non-logical data processing facility which is, in its own way, every bit as useful and sophisticated as reason but which we tend to play down or analyse away because its causal connections seem so tenuous. This facility which I call ‘feeling’ acts much faster than reason and seems to process vast amounts of data in parallel rather than sequentially like logical thought. As such it is hard to put into words, the words chosen tend to be feeling words, and the process is more akin to Art than Science.” As an exercise in understanding we attempt to take Tarot Divination and map it against Dukes’ model of the four com directions of Magic, Art, Religion and Science. It’s also worth mentioning, especially now that we have reached the second of our two-part series on this text, that Dukes never actually reveals the sex secrets of the black magicians, and neither do we… References Ramsey Dukes (1974) — S.S.O.T.B.M.E: an essay on magic Altered Mates — Episode 17: The Big Lez Show — Choomah Island 2 Marzoli, D., D’Anselmo, A., Malatesta, G., Lucafò, C., Prete, G., & Tommasi, L. (2022). The Intricate Web of Asymmetric Processing of Social Stimuli in Humans. Symmetry, 14(6), 1096. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym14061096 Altered Mates — Episode 4 — Understanding Ourselves through IFS & Episode 5 — Big Self Energy Watson, A. (2025). Vibes-based methods. Qualitative Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941241308707 Alan Watts — A Conversation with Myself Altered Mates — Episode 20 — Surrender! James Hillman — The Soul’s Code (2017) Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.

According to Ramsey Dukes, “Magic is a technique by which the human mind attempts to operate upon its world. As such it is similar to Art, Religion and Science, but note that the term ‘its world’ is meant to embrace not only the physical universe but also all phenomena, objective and subjective, which do not respond to direct control.” In this episode we consider Ramsey Dukes’ essay on magical thinking; “Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed”, commonly abbreviated to S.S.O.T.B.M.E. Well, that was our intention anyway… it takes us a while to meander around the concept of magic, our exposure to the concept of magic and even early aversions to it. Eventually, we discuss Dukes’ model of com directions differentiating between Art, Magic, Religion and Science, and the modes of thinking associated with each ‘direction’. In this essay, Dukes comes to a similar conclusion to Carl Jung: human thought is comprised of four distinct elements: intuition, observation, logic and feeling. Dukes argues that, “any practical method of thinking demands at least two of these four elements, one to serve as an input of impressions and the other to process them.” Our primary concern in tackling this obscure text is to determine what magic or magical thinking actually is, and whether or not this a relevant term for us to use. References Ramsey Dukes (1974) — S.S.O.T.B.M.E: an essay on magic Black Sabbath — Black Sabbath (1970) — The Wizard Chef (2014) & The Chef Show (2019) Wilfred Owen (1921) — Dulce et Decorum Est Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.

In the second episode of season 2 the altered mates continue our discussion of our personal experiences with ayahuasca. In this episode, Alejandro relates his rather disturbing experience in one particular ceremony from his ayahuasca retreat in Iquitos, Peru in August 2024. Alejandro recounts his evening of existential dread—which he describes at one point as, "the worst feeling I’ve ever felt,” and Tobias offers insight and interpretation in response. In the later stages of the episode, Tobias considers his intentions going into an ayahuasca ceremony. Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.

In the first episode of season 2 we begin a discussion of some of our most profound and significant personal experiences with ayahuasca over the past ten years. We consider the prospect that ayahuasca might be a “highly evolved conscious entity”, or at the very least, an entity possessing an intelligence and possibly having a message to communicate with humanity. References The Temple of the Way of Light Tobias Penno — How Ayahuasca Offers Psychosocial Wellbeing Caffyn Jesse — Ecstatic Belonging: A Year on the Medicine Path Altered Mates Episode 1 — Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Episode 6 — F-ing the Ineffable: William James, Mysticism, and the Psychedelic Experience Episode 18 — Coming out of the psychedelic closet Episode 19 — A Glimpse of Eternity Episode 20 — Surrender! Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here (hard copy, ebook and audiobook). Listen to the free serialised audiobook here.

In this, the final episode of Season 1 of the Altered Mates Podcast, we (Alejandro Tuama and Tobias Penno) discuss what is on the immediate horizon for us both. Tobias gives us a little taste of his PhD—in of both the subject matter of his research and the origin story as well—which is in the final stages of submission and approval! And Alejandro talks about his trip to South America. Along the way we discuss the concept of “character loops” which Alejandro brings in from the HBO TV Series “Westworld”. We reflect on how we can “de-armour” the ego and what it truly means to “surrender” to the medicine. We find time to reflect on a recent mushroom ceremony, and in particular, the implications of this recent ceremony for Alejandro and his meeting with “the medicine” in the Peruvian Amazon. And we toss around the concept of the “Daimon”, which Alejandro brings in from James Hillman’s book “The Soul’s Code”, and in particular consider the implications of what we call “daimonic derailment.” As we mention in the episode, this will be the final episode for Season 1 of the Altered Mates Podcast. We are both keen as mustard to get cracking on Season 2, which will happen just as soon as I (Alejandro) return from South America. Adios Amigos! References Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy — Westworld (2016—2022) Hayao Miyazaki — Spirited Away (2001) The Daniels — Everything, Everywhere, All At Once (2022) The Wachowskis — The Matrix Franchise Chris Letheby — Philosophy of Psychedelics (2021) Game of Thrones — Dothraki James Hillman — The Soul’s Code (2017) Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here. Listen to the serialised audiobook here.

This episode of the podcast features Alejandro reading two chapters from his debut novel, A Glimpse of Eternity—published in 2022, and based on his own transformational journey to South America in 2016. At this stage in the narrative, Alejandro’s alias, “Nick”, has made his way to Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. He is ed by his two mates, Stan & Billy, and they have just arrived at an Ayahuasca Healing Centre, named “Way of the Spirit”. Earlier in the novel, Nick undertook two very disappointing ayahuasca ceremonies in The Sacred Valley. He also fell into a downward spiral of anxiety, depression and self-loathing. Chapters 9 & 10 of A Glimpse of Eternity recount Nick’s first two ayahuasca ceremonies at Way of the Spirit and his first Tobacco Dieta. From the blurb: A Glimpse of Eternity is edgy, jungle-dank backpacker fiction infused with philosophy, ecstasy, and a dark sense of humour. Nick is a twenty-seven-year-old high school teacher who has lost his way. Anxious, depressed, and frustrated, he travels to South America in search of his life’s purpose and hopefully, through the use of powerful psychedelic plants, a mystical experience. At an ayahuasca centre deep in the Peruvian Amazon, confronted with the raw, overwhelming power of “the medicine”, Nick must learn to traverse the dangerous path on which he finds himself, or risk toppling over into insanity and despair. This is a raw and unflinching novel about a young man’s search for a meaningful existence – a joyful, ecstatic journey of transcendence, tempered by the darkness and gut-wrenching horror of the path he must walk to get there. The timing of this episode couldn't be better because the audiobook for A Glimpse of Eternity is now available for purchase, so if you enjoy listening to Alejandro reading the novel, then search for it wherever you get your audiobooks or check out the links below. (There's also a free version still available on the Altered Mates Patreon). Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here. Listen to the serialised audiobook for free here.

It’s not always easy talking to friends and family about psychedelics. But it’s another step from discussing these powerful, life changing, spiritual experiences within the confines of our homes, with those we trust most, to making that announcement in public, to the wider population, who may not be so charitable or understanding. Hopefully, if enough of us find a way to share our stories, and if we can listen with open hearts and open minds, then maybe we can shift the mindset of the culture at large. In this episode of the podcast, the Altered Mates each take a turn in reading a personal essay. Both essays amount to a “coming out” of the psychedelic closet, not just to our friends and families, but to the wider community. Tobias’ piece was written in 2020 for the Thank You Plant Medicine movement. Alejandro’s piece was published in 2021, in one of the last editions of the Psychedelic Press print journal. Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy this rather personal edition of the Altered Mates podcast. References Thank You Plant Medicine Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here. Listen to the serialised audiobook here.

The Big Lez Show is an animated TV series, that premiered on YouTube in 2012. The show was created by Jarrad Wright, Tom Hollis, and Izak Whear; with Jarrad being the driving creative force of the show. Choomah Island 2 (2015) — written and animated by Jarrad Wright — is the finale of Season 3 of The Big Lez Show. In this feature length episode of The Big Lez Show, Leslie and his mates fly to Choomah Island to blow up the Choomah’s hive and get rid of their species for good. They also find time to eat some psychedelic mushrooms they find growing in a field, and Big Lez smokes a t of some mysterious psychedelic, given to him Sassy the Sasquatch. In this episode we cover the basic plot of Choomah Island 2, but narrow down especially on those two psychedelic trips, expertly depicted in the film. In response to the experience of the characters during a magic mushroom trip, we take an extended sojourn into a discussion of trees… treating trees as individuals capable of communicating with us, and we discuss the power of considering a tree (and by extension the rest of the natural world) as “thou” rather than “it”, and even find a way to bring in James Cameron’s first Avatar film. Finally a warning: if you’re at all squeamish about swearing then this probably isn't the episode for you… We hope you enjoy our discussion of Jarred Wright’s The Big Lez Show — Choomah Island 2. References Jarrad Wright appearances on the “Your Mate Tom” Podcast The Big Lez Show The Big Lez Show — Choomah Island 2 The Big Lez Show — The Mike Nolan Show — Episode One The Big Lez Show — Trippa Snippa The Big Lez Show — Sassy the Sasquatch The Wachowskis — The Matrix Aldous Huxley — The Doors of Perception Alejandro Tuama — A Glimpse of Eternity James Hillman — The Soul’s Code Ursula K. Le Guin — Late in the Day Altered Mates: Episode 7: Jung, The Shadow, and A Wizard of Earthsea Alejandro couldn't the name of… The Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne. Paris Williams — Rethinking Madness: Towards a Paradigm Shift in our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis Alejandro couldn’t where “standing reserve” came from— it’s here… Martin Heidegger — The Question Concerning Technology. Martin Buber — I and Thou Altered Mates: Episode 6 — F-ing the Ineffable: William James, Mysticism, and the Psychedelic Experience James Cameron — Avatar — Destruction of the Home Tree Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here. Listen to the serialised audiobook here.

In this episode we use James Davies’ book “Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good” as a launch pad to discuss some of the glaring issues with psychiatry and its sugar-daddy; the pharmaceutical industry. The writer, James Davies is psychotherapist with a PhD in Medical and Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford. He is a Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Roehampton, London. Davies acknowledges that as a psychotherapist he could be seen as being biased in favour of the psychotherapeutic approach which can be considered to be in opposition to the ‘pharmaceutical’ approach of psychiatry. He makes no attempt to present a balanced in this book—it unashamedly presents a series of arguments against psychiatry and its sugar-daddy (Alejandro’s words…) the pharmaceutical industry. Overall, thestrongest arguments presented concern depression and the inefficacy of anti-depressant drugs, and perhaps he should have narrowed his argument to focus just on depression rather than extrapolate to the whole field. Regardless, he makes a number of compelling points that portray psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry as nothing short of despicable. The main points of this book can be summarised as follows: psychiatric diagnostic models are more products of culture than of science the efficacy of antidepressant drugs is no better than placebo pharmaceutical companies engage in behaviours that present antidepressants as more effective than they really are behind Western psychiatry is a variety of cultural assumptions about human nature and the role of suffering of questionable validity and utility. Western practices of psychiatry may undermine successful local ways of managing distress We also consider in this episode one of the most important chapters in the history of psychedelic culture, being the adventures of the brothers McKenna to La Chorera in the Colombian Amazon, and their encounter there with The Mushroom… References Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good (2013) written by James Davies Episode 1 — Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Moncrieff, J., Cooper, R.E., Stockmann, T. et al. The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Mol Psychiatry 28, 3243–3256 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0 vs… Jauhar, S., Arnone, D., Baldwin, D.S. et al. A leaky umbrella has little value: evidence clearly indicates the serotonin system is implicated in depression. Mol Psychiatry 28, 3149–3152 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-023-02095-y Ferguson, I., & Dowd, P. (2019). Mental health social work: the dog that hasn’t barked. In M. Lavalette (Ed.), What is the Future of Social Work? (1st ed., pp. 57–68). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvqc6hjk.11 Corpus Christi (2019) Martín Prechtel — The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise Dr Rosalind Watts Terence McKenna — True Hallucinations: Being an of the Author's Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradise Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here. Listen to the serialised audiobook here.

In this episode, we use the film adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as a launching point to discuss ideas around psychiatry, psychiatric wards, and the conflict between the individual and the establishment. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was originally a novel, written by Ken Kesey and published in 1962. (Ken Kesey, worked the graveyard shift as an orderly at a mental health facility in Menlo Park, California. He spoke to the patients and witnessed the workings of the institution. He also voluntarily took psychoactive drugs, including mescaline and LSD, as part of Project MK Ultra. In addition to his work with MK Ultra, Kesey took LSD recreationally.) The novel was adapted into film in 1975, directed by Miloš Forman, and went on to win five Academy Awards. The narrative focusses on the antics of the rebellious Randle Patrick McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson in the film), who fakes insanity to serve his sentence for battery and gambling in a psychiatric hospital rather than at a prison work farm. The head istrative nurse, Nurse Ratched, rules the ward with absolute authority, assisted by her three day-shift orderlies and her assistant doctors and nurses. In this episode we discuss the character of McMurphy, as an example of an “individual” who stands out from the crowd like Tyler Durden in Fight Club (who we discussed in Episode 8 — Monsters & Masculinity). McMurphy cannot be allowed to run loose in society, and so he is trapped and forced into the punishment system. One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest is about “the combine”, the machine, that forces us to fall into line. With the arbitrary rules, the opiate drugs to dull our senses, with the shame that turns us into our own police. Towards the end of the book, one of the patients comments how they forced McMurphy to stand up for them, as they are too cowardly to stand up for themselves. McMurphy pushes the boundaries of the system in their behalf, smashing up against a machine that he cannot defeat, a machine that wants to grind everyone down into the dirt. But despite this seemingly hopeless situation, this film (and novel) can still serve as a call to action. It can be a call to be an individual in the face of the oppressive machine. To be the one who stands, not the masses who push. Either way we are destined to be ground into dust by the machine, but to be an individual is surely a more glorious way to live and honourable way to die. References Episode 8 — Monsters & Masculinity: delving further into the Jungian Shadow Episode 9 — From Pepe Silvia to Geshinka: the curious domains of psychosis One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) directed by Milos Forman One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) written by Ken Kesey Rottnest Island Prison & Burial Ground The Mask (1994) directed by Chuck Russell Tyler Durden from Fight Club, as discussed in Episode 8 — Monsters & Masculinity Paris Williams — Rethinking Madness: Towards a Paradigm Shift in our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis The Shawshank Redemption (1994) written and directed by Frank Darabont The Liberators It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here. Listen to the serialised audiobook here.

This episode begins with a discussion of the role of dreams and quickly moves on to our issues with contemporary education in both university and high school contexts. Before long, we settle down into a discussion about Tobias’ intentions for an ayahuasca ceremony, and consider ideas of discipline and maintaining a clean and unpolluted body. We venture into some controversial realms; for instance, thinking about whether we can legitimately call psychiatrists “glorified drug-dealers”, and whether prescribing anti-depressant medication might actually be taking autonomy away from people and preventing them from following through in a process that might lead to growth... (As always, we remind listeners to take anything we say we a grain of salt— we are speculating here about the world around us, and we are open to be challenged and critiqued on anything we say). Tobias reflects on the profound realisation that there might be something in the world smarter than him. And finally, after much probing and prodding, he elaborates upon what can be thought of as an “embodied” approach to plant medicines. References Toko-pa Turner — Dream School Ava Irani — Functional Spirituality James Davies— Cracked Rage Against the Machine— Freedom Punk Therapy Podcast Dr. Sharon Stanley — Somatic Transformation Avatar: The Last Airbender Links Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here. Listen to the serialised audiobook here.

In this episode, we conclude our two-part discussion on Scott Hill’s book, Confrontation with the Unconscious. Last episode we discussed Chapter 7 from Hill’s book, titled “Psychedelic Experience and Psychosis”. Chapter 8, the subject of this episode, concerns itself with an exploration of psychosis in Jungian Psychology. We altered mates find ourselves now almost at the end of a deep dive into the intersession between psychedelics and psychosis, and at this point is seems to be that what is happening in both psychotic episodes and psychedelic trips are what Scott Hill refers to as a “confrontation with the unconscious”, or in other words — an overwhelming of the conscious ego by the archetypal forces of the unconscious. According to Jung’s ideas, the archetypal forces of the unconscious, or just the archetypes, “live in a world quite different from the world outside— in a world where the pulse of time beats infinitely slowly, where the birth and death of individuals count for little. No wonder their nature is strange, so strange that their irruption into consciousness often amounts to a psychosis. They undoubtably belong to the material that comes to light in schizophrenia.” Jung argues that our alienated condition is manifested in symbolic messages from the unconscious that express themselves in a strange and incomprehensible language, which cries out for interpretation. As Jung puts it, “in insanity we do not discover anything new and unknown; we are looking at the foundation of our own being, the matrix of those vital problems on which we are all engaged.” The terrors of the psychotic are merely extreme forms of our common human condition. Perhaps we should consider our own sanity to be traversing a knife’s edge—for anyone who's engaged in high dose psychedelic experience, this may well be a regular thought… As mentioned in the introduction: A Glimpse of Eternity by Alejandro Tuama Purchase the novel here. Listen to the serialised audiobook here. References: Episode 12 — On Scott Hill’s “Confrontation with the Unconscious”—Part One Scott J. Hill — Confrontation with the Unconscious Paris Williams — Rethinking Madness: Towards a Paradigm Shift in our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis Christopher Nolan — Inception The Farrelly Brothers — Me, Myself & Irene William Shakespeare — A Midsummer Night’s Dream Pete Docter — Inside Out Links: Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby

In this episode we discuss a chapter from Scott Hill’s book, Confrontation with the Unconscious. It was our intention to cover two chapters, but in the end we managed to get through only Chapter 7: Psychedelic Experience and Psychosis. We try to wrap our heads around useful, working models of psychosis and (attempt to) determine where this troubling and mysterious phenomenon overlaps with the psychedelic experience. In the process we toss around ideas like Washburn’s Ego and the Dynamic Ground; discuss how researchers accidentally induced “ecstatic mystical” experiences and cured a group of alcoholics of their addiction; speculate as to whether a psychotic episode has the potential to reveal insights for the experiencer; and we even come up with our own metaphor to illustrate how the ego can become overwhelmed by the unconscious. Ultimately, we agree that psychotic experiences and psychedelic experiences appear to have a common underlying mechanism that enables unconscious material to penetrate the psychic membrane and potentially overwhelm the ego, albeit in a variety of different forms and across varying durations in time. One question left unresolved in our discussion is this: if you have a personality disorder, are you more likely to have a psychotic experience? If you have any insight into this question, please get in touch with us… References Scott J. Hill — Confrontation with the Unconscious Paris Williams — Rethinking Madness: Towards a Paradigm Shift in our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis John E. Nelson — Healing the Split: Integrating Spirit Into Our Understanding of the Mentally Ill Michael Washburn — Ego and the Dynamic Ground Ernest Becker — The Denial of Death Bobby “Bacala” Baccalieri Kurzgesagt — “Addiction” (note: Kurzgesagt has taken the video down from their YouTube, but it is available here). Episode 1 — Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Episode 9 — From Pepe Silvia to Geshinka: the curious domains of psychosis Episode 10 — Czech, mate! Psychedelic Research in Communist Czechoslovakia Episode 11 — Giving LSD to kids! (…to treat severe childhood schizophrenia) Links: Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby.

In this episode we discuss a paper written by Gary Fisher concerning some intriguing research that he and some fellow colleagues conducted in the 1960s. This paper and our discussion surrounding it is quite confronting, as it deals with extremely troubled children who were suffering terribly. But even more intriguing than the depths of the psychoses these children were trapped within, was the profound breakthroughs that Fisher and his team were able to facilitate with the help of LSD—to transform the lives of some of these children from total horror into functioning of society. But probably the most confronting and disappointing aspect of this whole paper, is the fact that—as Fisher writes in the introduction—this, “research done 35 years ago is still the last word on the use of psychedelics to treat these conditions.” Indeed, we were left thinking what an outrageous and avoidable tragedy it is that the terrible suffering of children like these continues to this day because of the so-called “war on drugs” and the related cessation of research into psychedelics. The paper appeared in the newsletter of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Volume 7 Number 3, in the summer of 1997 (pp. 18-25). The paper is titled: Treatment of Childhood Schizophrenia Utilizing LSD and Psilocybin. As an introduction, consider these two ages from the paper: Now that the FDA has permitted research with LSD and psilocybin to resume, we feel it is important to share examples of a remarkable experiment, the results of which were not sufficiently taken into because this line of research was prematurely halted in the mid-sixties due to political considerations. Childhood schizophrenia is still a difficult problem to treat and causes much suffering. It is a terrible shame that research done 35 years ago is still the last word on the use of psychedelics to treat these conditions. The working hypothesis of this study is that psychosis is a massive defensive system of repression-avoidance-denial in the service of protecting the individual from experiencing early childhood trauma. The repression is so massive that the individual ceases to experience himself with any validity. The individual exists isolated in a world without feelings and this world becomes meaningless. References Treatment of Childhood Schizophrenia Utilizing LSD and Psilocybin, Gary Fisher. MAPS article Psychedelic Salon Podcast episode Photos of Gary & Nancy: The Elementary Kool-Aid Acid Test Links: Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby.

In this episode we continue our foray into the world of schizophrenia and psychosis. This week we base our discussion around a fascinating paper written by Sarah Marks, titled: “From experimental psychosis to resolving traumatic pasts: Psychedelic Research in Communist Czechoslovakia, 1954‑1974”. And… while people moving through a schizophrenia or a psychotic break often experience disordered thoughts, we too, experience a certain amount of disorder in our discussion. So we hope that our listeners are possessed of a forgiving temperament and pardon our naive ramblings. Czech it out. References: Sarah Marks (2015)—From experimental psychosis to resolving traumatic pasts: Psychedelic Research in Communist Czechoslovakia, 1954‑1974 Paris Williams — Rethinking Madness: Towards a Paradigm Shift in our Understanding and Treatment of Psychosis Nassim Haramein— here but also here. Links: Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby

In this episode we explore the mainstream medical understanding of the domains of schizophrenia and psychosis. In the process we discuss a number of texts including Better Call Saul, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Black Swan and Joker. According to the Verywell Health website psychosis is a “symptom”, of which signs include: hallucinations, delusions, and agitation; and schizophrenia is a mental health “condition” that can cause psychosis. People living with schizophrenia can experience symptoms of psychosis but not all people experiencing psychosis have schizophrenia. The writers of the DSM-V suggest that schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders are defined by abnormalities in one or more of the following five domains: delusions; hallucinations; disorganised thinking; grossly disorganised or abnormal motor behaviour (including catatonia), and; negative symptoms. Please listen in as we try to wrap our heads around these five domains of schizophrenia. References DSM-V-TR (APA) Verywell Health Under the Silver Lake (2018) directed by David Robert Mitchell. Better Call Saul — here’s an example of Chuck McGill’s behaviour: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — the infamous Pepe Silvia scene. Black Swan (2010) directed by Darren Aronofsky Tchaikovsky — Swan Lake Disorganized Speech Schizophrenia Joker (2019) directed by Todd Philips Rethinking Madness by Paris Williams Links: Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby.

In this episode we continue our exploration of the Jungian shadow in our lives and in literature. The two texts we are primarily concerned with are A Monster Calls and Fight Club. Both began as novels and both were adapted into fine films— Fight Club, especially, is an excellent adaptation and deserving of its popularity. A Monster Calls (2011), is a novel written by Patrick Ness, developed from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, who died of breast cancer in 2007. Ness writes of Dowd that she, “had the characters, a premise, and a beginning. What she didn't have, unfortunately, was time.” In A Monster Calls, we suggest that we can consider the shadow as the appearance of the “unthinkable thought”— a thought so terrible that the young protagonist, Conor, represses it and refuses to acknowledge it, until it consumes him with guilt and he unconsciously summons a monster to help him face it. Fight Club is a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk, and later adapted into a film by David Fincher. In Fight Club, the shadow is represented by the mysterious and charismatic Tyler Durden, who serves as a projection of the narrator's repressed desires and rage. Tyler represents the narrator’s desire to break free from the constraints of society and live a life of freedom and adventure. We hope you enjoy the episode References: Episode 7— Jung, The Shadow, and A Wizard of Earthsea Carl Jung —The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol 9. Part 1 and 2 Part 1: The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious Part 2: Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self Carl Jung — Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962). Maggie Hyde — Introducing Jung: A Graphic Guide Scott J. Hill — Confrontation with the Unconscious: Jungian Depth Psychology and Psychedelic Experience (2019). A Monster Calls (novel), written by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd), published 2011 A Monster Calls (film), directed by J. A. Bayona from a screenplay by Patrick Ness. Chuck Palahniuk — Fight Club (novel) David Fincher — Fight Club (film) Tool — Forty-Six & 2 — Ænima Links: Altered Mates Website Altered Mates Instagram Music for the show by Si Mulumby.