Neurodivergence is more important than ever as we learn more about the brain.
Not all people who experience hallucinations are experiencing psychosis. Not everyone with psychosis is a hallucinator. Psychosis can lead to a decrease in well-being. However, altered states of consciousness may improve one’s overall life.
Oliver Sacks, the famous neurologist, wrote a book on hallucinations but didn’t specifically discuss the psychotic hallucinations. While neurological hallucinations may seem friendly and playful, psychotic hallucinations can be frightening and stressful. The same applies to altered states of consciousness as well as psychosis.
We talked about what it means to distinguish between psychotic and consciousness states in this segment of our interview with Lisa Dahlgren. Dahlgren explains what this looks like in a clinical setting through her nature-based practice.
SM: Why is it important to have alternative realities other than the one we use for psychosis and illness?
LD: I don’t think that non-ordinary reality state, altered state, psychosis, or experiences while using therapeutic psychedelics are the same thing. Based on my observation and anecdotally, the perceptual differences that exist in each state (such as hallucinations), seem to have different characteristics.
They also produce different results. Our stress levels drop when we use techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, breath work and yoga. Both subjective reports and neurobiological indicators show this. My experience with psychedelics therapeutically is very similar to that of other non-ordinary states.
It seems to be quite different from a psychotic condition. According to people with a diagnosis of psychotic disorders, stress levels are not affected by the disorder. As I listen to others describe their experiences, I find that a psychotic disorder seems to permanently alter or destroy one’s self-perception.
Non-ordinary reality states have a similar experience to an altered state, but they also include other elements. When I first began to experience non-ordinary realities states, it happened naturally. I didn’t have control over what was happening. It was almost as if I leapt from one end of my awareness continuum to another in one breath, without trying or wanting to.
These episodes were brief (minutes, rather than hours) and I felt like I had to work hard to keep my identity intact while experiencing a lot of self-expansion. Although my stress levels were low before these events, they increased dramatically when they began.
My meditation practice and mindfulness practices were gradual, but my experiences became much more ingrained.
Two other elements to my non-ordinary reality states that I have experienced are that they are not self-referential. For the few times that they felt they were talking to me personally or about me, it was a positive, loving, and warm experience. These two components are vastly different to psychosis. They may also differ from altered states and therapeutic or non-therapeutic psychedelic use.
I found that once I was able to get past the stress of going involuntarily, these states have been the most profound, amazing, and life-altering experiences of my entire life. I wish all people could experience them.
SM: This is an important distinction. The experience of being in an altered state or psychosis is characterized by the loss of control. My psychosis is not controlled by me. They just happen. However, I usually know when an episode is approaching when I feel disconnected from reality. This is often caused by significant stress. Although I do have some coping mechanisms that help me return to reality, it can be very traumatizing to experience a psychotic episode.
I feel like I am being tortured by voices during severe episodes. My experiences include verbal abuse, mental images of torture or criminal acts, and I feel like my brain is against me.
Although I will admit that I feel calmer and more centered when I do rhythmic breathing, yoga, meditation and rhythmic breathing, I don’t consider them to be related. It’s because of the skills I learned in therapy and meditation that I can withstand hallucinatory verbal abuse more effectively. However, I would not say that they are related or affected by each other.
