In 1958, Rollo May observed "the most profound psychological experiences are peculiarly those which shake
the individual's relation to time" (p.68). An accumulating literature suggests that a wide array of psychedelics can induce potent changes in time perception (Baruss & Vletas, 2003; Dawson, 2001; Hayes, 2000; Melges, Tinklenberg, Hollister, & Gillespie, 1970; Shanon, 2001; Strassman, 2001). For example, as Strassman (2001) writes of DMT:
Past, present, and future merge together into a timeless
moment, the now of eternity. Time stops, inasmuch as it no
longer "passes." There is existence, but it is not dependent
upon time. Now and then, before and after, all combine
into this exact point. On the relative level, short periods of
time encompass enormous amounts of experience (p. 234).
Very little is known about the nature of these changes.
However, the repeated theme of temporal distortion
amongst many archives of psychedelic experiences (e.g.,
Hayes, 2000; Siebert, 2004; Strassman, 2001) strongly
supports the notion that psychedelic drugs do, in some way,
impact the underlying neurochemistry of time perception.
Describing an experience with the psychedelic plant
Salvia Divinorum, Daniel Siebert (2004) writes:
The last words to pass through my head went
something like, "Just as I thought. This stuff is inactive. I'll
go toss it in the trash." Then quite suddenly I found myself
in a confused, fast moving state of consciousness with
absolutely no idea where my body or my universe had gone.
I have little memory of this initial period of the experience,
but I do know that a lot was happening and that it seemed
quite literally like an eternity, when in fact it must only
have lasted a few minutes . . . In this state, all the points of
time in my personal history coexisted. One did not precede
the next. Apparently, had I so willed it, I could return to
any point in my life and really be there, because it was
actually happening right now.
These experiences raise questions regarding the very
nature of existence and of the mental universe. Since
the work of Einstein, distortions of the fabric of space-time have been commonplace in discussions of the speed
of light, relativity, and cosmology. Likewise, subjective
accounts of psychedelic experiences often include perceptual distortions that include insights about cosmological
questions like "What was God doing before the beginning?", "How did the universe begin?", and "What is the
nature of time?"
There are few illustrations of the astronomical-psychedelic link as specific as the following recent report of viewing a total lunar eclipse after consuming LSD (Dawson, 2001):
As the eclipse became total, with the sun behind us
as we viewed the moon in front of us, only a point of light
remained on the moon. Completely without warning, the
bright rays of light from this point seemed to attach to my
head, lift it off my shoulders, and physically move it ... to
the edge of the moon where I was given a clear view of the
entire Milky Way extending outward from my head! It
seemed to flow through my head at the level of my eyes.
. . . the repeated theme of temporal distortion amongst many
archives of psychedelic experiences . . . strongly supports the notion
that psychedelic drugs do, in some way, impact the underlying
neurochemistry of time perception.
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Consistent with the astronomical associations of such
experiences, an astrophysicist has recently proposed that
models used in astronomy and mathematics can also be
used to better understand the non-ordinary mental time of
psychedelic experience (Saniga & Buccheri, 2003). Metod
Saniga (from the Slovak Academy of Sciences) employs
advanced concepts that link algebra and geometry, like
projective spaces and so-called Cremona transformations that appear in chaos theory. In providing a workable mathematical model of subjective experience, Saniga raises
mental experience to a par with physical reality. As Siebert (2004) writes:
I had the sudden realization that although I had
managed to pull myself back into my body I had somehow
ended up back in the wrong spot in the timeline of my
physical existence. I was convinced that I might be stuck in
this situation and would have to continue my life from this
point in my past.
Certainly, a useful set of new studies of psychedelic
experiences would explore and evaluate the mathematical
modelling of archived experiences of psychedelic and other
non-ordinary mental times. This set of studies would hopefully shed light on the way that time binds and unifies
conscious experience and how it is "un-bound" by psychedelics (Dawson, 2004).
To return to the words of Rollo May (1958, p. 68):
Severe anxiety and depression blot out time, annihilate the future. Or, as Minkowski proposes, it may be
that the disturbance of the patient in relation to time, his
inability to "have a future, gives rise to his anxiety and
depression." In either case, the most painful aspect of the
sufferer's predicament is that he is unable to imagine a
future moment in time when he will be out of the anxiety
or depression.
The association between perceptual time distortion and
psychedelic experience also points to the usefulness of
studies of existential crisis. The person in existential crisis
cannot even answer the question of whether they exist in
a "time" that other people have in common. As concerns
emerge about harmful side-effects of traditional antidepressants (Health Canada, 2004; US FDA, 2004), case
studies have recently appeared suggesting Salvia Divinorum may have antidepressant properties (Halpern, 2003;
Hanes, 2001/2003).
Consciousness
of time is as
critical as the
very sense of
self, identity,
or being, and
to the sense
that there is
any meaning
to life at all.
Moreover, psychedelics may specifically activate an
endogenous neurochemical system that regulates time perception (Dawson, 2004). If this is the case, and there is certainly ample evidence to suggest it is (e.g., Baruss & Vletas,
2003; Dawson, 2001; Hayes, 2000; Melges, Tinklenberg,
Hollister, & Gillespie, 1970; Shanon, 2001; Strassman,
2001), the study of this temporal neurochemical system
is critical. Phenomena such as aging, mental illness, and
drug-induced changes in time perception may all have this
system in common (Dawson, 2004). Because psychedelics
seem to tap quickly and directly into this system, they may
be one of the most suitable technologies for its study.
However, the risks of a one-way trip through time are
important to acknowledge and raise the need to adequately
prepare inexperienced travellers for the totally alien times
they may discover. As Ornstein (1979) writes:
Very often this experience cannot be placed in linear
coordinates, for it is outside this mode of operation, outside
words, outside normal time. The best the verbal-logical
mode can do to account for the experiences is to term them
"timeless" . . . which allow for "an infinite present" to exist.
These experiences, for many, represent the first significant
break from a normal linear consciousness, normal reality,
and normal time. For some, the break into a new area of
experience is unsupported by the remainder of their lives
and their training, and they may not be able to return to
normal consciousness (p. 89).
The phenomenological and empirical research suggests
a clear association between the activity of the brain and
the suspension of linear time and perceived cause-effect
relationships by psychedelic and
entheogenic substances. Cannabinoid, serotonin, dopamine, and
opiate receptor systems are associated with altering time consciousness
and included in a neurochemical
system that regulates the perception of time. Consciousness of time
is as critical as the very sense of self,
identity, or being, and to the sense
that there is any meaning to life
at all. Psychedelic neurochemistry
highlights the temporal boundary
between our perception of "who I
am" and "who I am not." This perspective leads to an exploration of
boundary conditions: between self
and other, between medications and
street-drugs, and between mental
health and mental illness.
Extending Strassman's (2001) proposal, it is suggested
here that time and the way it is regulated neurochemically is responsible for the perception of interpersonal
boundaries. These boundaries include age, gender, family
relationships across generations, the boundary between
life and death, and time pressure (or sense of being busy).
When these boundaries are transcended with the use of
psychedelics, we encounter fusion of self with other. It is
here that one person's consciousness may become temporally located at overlapping levels of reality. Rather than
perspectives "missing each other," different perspectives
integrate and become one. From a therapeutic standpoint,
this transcendence is extremely valuable and the fear of
this transcendence should -- at least to some extent -- be
overcome. If movement of consciousness to other times is
possible, hypothetically, speeding up the movement from a
time of illness to a time of health may be as well.
This is yet another perspective from which the psychedelic class of drugs can be seen as candidates for facilitating psychotherapy and coping with illness. This potential
is being explored in a number of new research projects
reported primarily by the Multidisciplinary Association
for Psychedelic Studies (www.maps.org). As with so many
applications, psychedelics await study by cognitive and
clinical scientists with interest in gaining further insight
into the function and applications of timelessness and
other transition states and boundary conditions.
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