Reading month...
Feed your head!!!
Hello Breakero!
Here in the northern hemisphere the darker evenings are upon us, so this month we feature things to read and contemplate. Below, you can find brief details of, and links to, several fascinating projects and papers:
The Sacred Plants and Fungi of the Americas
Pantheism: One and All
Psychotherapy assisted by psychedelic and related substances: Guidelines for psychiatrists taking part in approved research trials (Royal College of Psychiatrists)
N,N-dimethyltryptamine mitigates experimental stroke by stabilizing the blood-brain barrier and reducing neuroinflammation
A Psilocybe Mushroom, New to Science, Documented in Africa
Single Treatment With MM120 (Lysergide) in Generalized Anxiety Disorder
If you are in reach of London, there is an in-person training event from the well-respected charity PsyCare UK, this weekend 18th–19th October.
November 21st–23rd sees an online event, the first Psychedelic Lived Experiences Summit, organized by a team of former patients and clinical trials participants uniting for a common mission to advance lived experience expertise in psychedelic research, treatment, and policy.
Don’t forget our extensive collection of talks on the Breaking Convention YouTube channel if you’d prefer to watch one of hundreds of psychedelic research videos!
On behalf of the Breaking Convention team
Nikki
info@breakingconvention.co.uk
N.B. The words below are taken directly from the original articles etc., and are not written by us!
De-Escalating Psychedelic Crises - An Experiential Training Weekend with PsyCare UK
Learn trauma-aware, embodied relational approaches to de-escalating psychedelic crises and transforming drug-induced distress and dissociative states.
Drawing on over a decade of experience operating in challenging circumstances, PsyCare UK are launching a weekend experiential accreditation for therapists, facilitators, healthcare or harm reduction workers, and those working with or in close proximity to people in psychedelic or drug-induced states.
This weekend workshop will cover a comprehensive approach to de-escalating psychedelic crises, including theoretical basis, preparation and integration, as well as the concrete experiential skills and approaches necessary to support someone in profoundly altered states of consciousness.
Upon completion of the weekend training you will be issued with a De-Escalating Psychedelic Crises Certification by PsyCare UK.
https://dandelion.events/e/o5d71
Psychedelic Lived Experiences Summit
Bridging science and lived expertise with nuance & wisdom
21–23 November (online)
Hear from 50+ patients, trial participants, therapists, and researchers as they share lived wisdom and expert insights. Explore the potential and limits of psychedelic treatments with raw stories that move beyond hype and fear, highlight true complexity, and deepen understanding.
Lived experiences offer invaluable insights into psychedelic care, bridging the gap between clinical science and human experience. By centering lived experience, we aim to improve safety, outcomes, and ethical standards across research, treatment, and policy.
The first-ever Psychedelic Lived Experiences Summit is part of this mission, bringing diverse voices together to reimagine what truly human-centered psychedelic care can be.
Free to watch live. Currently $67 US to upgrade to All Access Pass (gives 12 months access to full recordings of all sessions), also:💬 Live Q&A panels with experts;🌍 Community & discussion space;📚 Lived experience resources kit;🎧 Audio downloads + transcripts;📝 Summit implementation guide;🎁 Exclusive partner perks
https://psychedeliclivedexperiences.com/summit
The Sacred Plants and Fungi of the Americas
This project documents the rich cultural heritage of psychedelic substances used by Native American peoples across centuries of spiritual, therapeutic, and ceremonial practices. Through archaeological evidence, historical records, and artistic masterpieces—including ceramics, sculptures, rock art, and ancient codices—this series illuminates the profound role these sacred substances play in establishing relationships between human and more-than-human entities within Indigenous cosmologies. Guided by principles of cultural diversity, scientific accuracy, and respect, this collaborative initiative presents Native peoples’ own knowledge and self-denominations while exploring how psychedelic experiences serve as sources of wisdom and transformation within their cultural contexts. The project contributes to the emerging field of Psychedelic Humanities through responsible scholarship that honors both the sacred nature of these traditions and their enduring significance for understanding consciousness, spirituality, and Indigenous ways of knowing.
https://www.sacredplantsamericas.com/
Pantheism: One and All
The prolific Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes’ new open access article is now available in Philosophical Psychology. Within frames of psychedelia, he sets out types and histories of Pantheism – that God is Nature. Introduction, Etymology and Historical Overview, Pan/All, Theos/God, Pantheism Typology, Monist Pantheism, Idealist Pantheism, Physicalist Pantheism, Partial Pantheism, Panentheism, Panpsychism, Ultimum.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2025.2499627
Psychotherapy assisted by psychedelic and related substances: Guidelines for psychiatrists taking part in approved research trials
Royal College of Psychiatrists (2025)
Clinical trials exploring the potential psychotherapeutic effects of this approach are developing at a rapid rate internationally and within the UK. Whilst treatment approaches may vary within these trials there is a broad consensus that the process of psychological change occurs because of the interaction between the brain, the mind, the body and the substance, within the containment and understanding of the therapeutic relationship (Grof, 2008). This represents a paradigm shift within psychiatry, combining the administration of a powerful psychopharmacological substance alongside psychological therapy and support.
N,N-dimethyltryptamine mitigates experimental stroke by stabilizing the blood-brain barrier and reducing neuroinflammation
Abstract
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a psychoactive molecule present in the human brain. DMT is under clinical evaluation as a neuroprotective agent in poststroke recovery. Yet, its mechanism of action remains poorly understood. In a rat transient middle cerebral artery occlusion stroke model, we previously showed that DMT reduces infarct volume. Here, we demonstrate that this effect is accompanied by reduction of cerebral edema, attenuated astrocyte dysfunction, and a shift in serum protein composition toward an anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective state. DMT restored tight junction integrity and blood-brain barrier (BBB) function in vitro and in vivo. DMT suppressed the release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in brain endothelial cells and peripheral immune cells and reduced microglial activation via the sigma-1 receptor. Our findings prove that DMT mitigates a poststroke effect by stabilizing the BBB and reducing neuroinflammation. Such interactions of DMT with the vascular and immune systems can be leveraged to complement current, insufficient, stroke therapy.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx5958
A Psilocybe Mushroom, New to Science, Documented in Africa
The story of Psilocybe maluti, its traditional use in Lesotho, and how citizen scientists helped bring this widely unknown species to scientific recognition. A lovely piece of writing!
https://northspore.substack.com/p/a-new-psilocybe-mushroom-discovered
Single Treatment With MM120 (Lysergide) in Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Question Does MM120 (lysergide D-tartrate) demonstrate dose-dependent efficacy in adults with moderate to severe generalized anxiety disorder?
A single dose of the psychedelic drug LSD may ease generalized anxiety disorder for months, a clinical trial has found.
The trial results, published Thursday (Sept. 4) in JAMA, include data from 194 people with moderate to severe anxiety across the U.S. The study compared these participants’ responses to different doses of LSD against a placebo treatment. It found that the drug alleviated symptoms in many patients for at least three months after just one exposure.
“This work has the potential to make significant contributions to the emerging field of psychedelic drug research,” Dr. Claudio Soares, a professor of psychiatry at the Queen’s University School of Medicine in Ontario, wrote in a commentary about the trial. It’s the first study to examine how different doses of LSD compare with a placebo for relieving anxiety. In addition, the trial didn’t explicitly incorporate psychotherapy into the treatment, meaning it could help pin down whether LSD in and of itself has an anti-anxiety effect, he added.