Everyone has experienced it at least once in their lives: you walk into a room with purpose only to realize you have no idea what you came for. You stare at the room, racking your brain for information, but all you draw is a blank. This state of temporary amnesia is the concept behind ego death. Also referred to as ego dissolution, this term has been used in mystic and psychedelic communities for decades to describe a state of temporary autobiographical amnesia.
Think of that moment of brain fog stretching over time, leaving you floating in a cloud of nothingness as you swim in a state of temporary amnesia. You have no idea who you are, where you come from or why you even exist. This is ego death, a psychological condition where a fully conscious individual temporarily “forgets” everything about themselves. Those who have experienced it say it felt like all the weight of the biographical selves had been lifted off their bodies, leaving them feeling “light and pleasant.”
However, it isn’t always a pleasant experience for everyone. Some individuals who experience ego death the first time they use psychedelics may think they will remain in that state forever, and they panic and are overcome with horror. Others may believe that they have died and passed into a new world, making the term ego death even more appropriate.
But the truth is that while drug-induced ego death can be extremely profound, it is always temporary, and it fades away. Some people may go through ego death for a few minutes while others can last hours depending on the type of psychedelic and dose. Longer-lasting drugs such as LSD and psilocybin tend to produce longer-lasting ego death while short-duration psychedelics can result in a short but intense state of ego death.
This phenomenon usually occurs due to unusual activity in an area of the brain called the hippocampus. It is located in the medial temporal lobe and is responsible for storing and retrieving memories. Experts believe high doses of psychedelics can disrupt the flow of information from the hippocampus to the executive areas responsible for working memory.
A scanning study conducted by researchers at Imperial College found that psilocybin causes ego dissolution by decreasing functional connectivity between the medial temporal lobe and high-level cortical regions. As ego death starts to wane, your autobiographical memories start to flood back into consciousness. This cycle of death and rebirth is integral to psychedelic spirituality and healing.
A separate study found that ayahuasca drinkers who experienced ego death saw a reduction in stress and depression as well as an increase in mindfulness and satisfaction with life.
There are still huge gaps that exist in our understanding of psychedelics and how they work, and the clinical development programs being undertaken by companies such as Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (NEO: CYBN) will hopefully shed more light on why these substances impact mental health in such diverse ways from traditional treatments.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (NYSE American: CYBN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CYBN
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