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A typical occurrence in emergency rooms is traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting from head trauma which is normally responsible for far more than 1 million visits per year. The magnitude of TBIs varies from mild, intermittent symptoms to longer periods of altered states of consciousness. The precise mechanism of concussion is indefinite. In serious brain trauma, Axon tearing is expected, but there is no evidence for this concussion process. Most concussion patients improve rapidly and entirely. Concussion management is usually supportive and some cases may need hospital admissions and ICU care according to severity of injury and related symptoms.

In this paper, we present a novel hypothesis as to what led humans in the Upper Paleolithic to penetrate and decorate deep, dark caves. Many of the depictions in these caves are located in halls or...

I assert that embarrassment, shame, and concern for professional reputation have inhibited analysts from discussing their struggles with countertransferential sleepiness, a phenomenon presumably mo...

The article is devoted to the problem of studying and applying the phenomena of suggestion, auto-suggestion and altered states of consciousness in modern sports psychology. A brief excursion into the history of the use of altered states of consciousness in elite sports is given. The advantages, disadvantages, limitations and specificity of different methods using suggestion and auto-suggestion in the framework of psychological support for athletes of various sports are discussed. The article also raises questions about the methods of assessing the effectiveness of psychological and pedagogical interventions with athletes using hypnosis and self-hypnosis, as well as verification of suggestive influences at the psychophysiological level. Finally, the article discusses the ethical aspects of using altered states of consciousness in the framework of psychological support for athletes and the prospects for popularizing sports hypnosis.

[Image: see text] Classic psychedelics produce altered states of consciousness that individuals often interpret as meaningful experiences. Across a number of human studies, when the participant-rated intensity of the overall drug effects are statistically controlled for, certain subjective effects predict therapeutic and other desirable outcomes. Underlying neurobiological mechanisms are likely necessary but not sufficient to confer full and enduring beneficial effects. We propose that the subjective effects of psychedelics are necessary for their enduring beneficial effects and that these subjective effects account for the majority of their benefit.

This article considers the nexus that exists between drumming, dancing, and possession within the Pāndavalīlā, and draws on the work of Judith Becker (2004) to interpret the performance of possession as a theatre of transition. Most notably, while drumming effectively inspires possessed states, these are of different kinds and different orders. Performances like those of the Pāndavalīlā rely not only on altered states of consciousness in some form, but also on the performance of those altered states of being. Consequently, a broader focus on the transitional stages of possession as outlined through drumming admits a wider acknowledgement of the different forms and purposes of possession. Critically, drum patterns offer a metaphor for understanding the numerous levels of transition that operate within a Pāndavalīlā.

A Ganzfeld is a homogenized visual and auditory perceptual field which can induce altered states of consciousness (ASC; Metzger, 1929; Schmidt & Prein, 2019). Using a balanced intrasubject design, we compared participants' experience during two differently colored (red, green) 25-min Ganzfeld sessions with brown noise as acoustic stimulation. Participants were exposed to the colored visual field through commercially available goggles and to brown noise over headphones. We selected 67 participants with some prior meditation experience to increase the probability that they would engage meaningfully with this specifically restricted stimulus situation. We tested the functional components of the standard cognitive model of time perception (Zakay & Block, 1997) in a path analysis for direct (red vs. green light) and indirect effects (arousal, attention) on subjective duration and perceived passage of time. Subjective arousal and valence states were measured using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM). The amount of attention directed to time and the perceived passage of time were rated with standard visual analog scales (VAS). Participants also estimated the duration of each Ganzfeld exposure. The session with the red visual field lasted significantly longer than did the green session (μred = 23.1 min; μgreen = 19.8 min). After the green session, participants rated their arousal level to have significantly decreased; after the red session, individuals on average felt emotionally less positive. Multiple path analyses revealed that the effect of color on estimated duration is completely mediated through higher arousal levels during the red Ganzfeld session. In turn, the higher arousal level generates a longer subjective estimate of duration. For induction of relaxation in studies probing altered states of consciousness employing the Ganzfeld technique, we recommend using the green light.

A psychosomatic model of dissociation is proposed that addresses the ever adjusting mind-body relation—the constant titration of the quality and degree of the psyche’s embeddedness in the sensorial and temporal life of the body. The model highlights the function of hypnoid mechanisms (autohypnosis, distraction, somatic autostimulation) and of altered states of consciousness in facilitating and masking the work of mind-body dissociation. Transient altered states, which enable new and creative forms of mind-body experience in everyday life and in the therapy situation, are contrasted with pathological forms of retreat into alter worlds—rigidly organized, timeless, often inescapable trancelike states of mind-body dislocation. These pathological dissociative structures reshape the life of the mind and of the body, requiring new clinical approaches to these phenomena.

As more local, state, and national governments change laws regarding the legality of cannabis use, it is essential for organizations to understand how the workplace may be influenced by these changes. The current study begins to answer this question by examining the relationship between three temporal-based cannabis measures and five forms of workplace performance. Using data from 281 employees and their direct supervisors, our results indicate that cannabis use before and during work negatively relate to task performance, organization-aimed citizenship behaviors, and two forms of counterproductive work behaviors. At the same time, after-work cannabis use was not related (positively or negatively) to any form of performance as rated by the user’s direct supervisor. We discuss methodological, theoretical, and practical implications for researchers, organizations, and governmental agencies concerned with cannabis use.