🌀 Why Ego Death Feels So Real

👋 Welcome

Hey friends!

This week feels like the psychedelic conversation is stretching in every direction at once.

We’re looking at new science, state policy movement, and a personal conversation with psychedelic researchers Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and Tommaso Barba about why ego death can feel so real.

Let’s get into it.

🔝 Weekly Highlights

• 🧠 Are psychedelics getting a tech rebrand?

  NPR looked at how psychedelics are being embraced by parts of the tech world, from CEOs and investors to the culture of optimization, productivity, and self-experimentation. The bigger question is what happens when ancient medicines, countercultural symbols, and therapeutic tools get filtered through Silicon Valley language. Read more
  

• 🌿 Pharma and natural medicine may both have a place

  A new op-ed via Marijuana Moment argues that the pharmaceutical and natural medicine pathways for psychedelics do not have to be treated as enemies. Prescription-based models, facilitator-led care, community frameworks, and natural medicine access may all serve different needs if policy is built with enough imagination. Read the op-ed
  

• 🧒 Should psychedelic therapy be available to young people?
  A new paper explored one of the most sensitive questions in the field: whether psychedelic-assisted therapy should ever be available to adolescents or young people. The issue is complicated. Youth mental health needs are urgent, but developing brains, ethics, consent, and long-term safety all demand serious caution. Open the study

🧬 Quick Hits

RESEARCH 🔬

• 🍄 Magic mushrooms may help treat cocaine addiction

  A new clinical study suggests psilocybin-assisted therapy may help people with cocaine use disorder reduce use and increase abstinence. The findings are early, but important, especially because cocaine addiction has very limited medication options. Read more
  

• 🌿 Cannabis legalization linked to lower opioid overdose rates

  A federally funded study found that marijuana legalization was associated with significant reductions in opioid overdoses. The relationship between cannabis policy and opioid outcomes is still debated, but this adds another serious data point to the conversation. See the findings
  

• 🧠 LSD microdosing linked to mood improvements in depression

  A small Phase 2a open-label trial found that adults with major depression reported acute mood improvements on LSD microdosing days. Because there was no placebo group, the findings need controlled trials before stronger conclusions can be made. Read the breakdown
  

• 🧬 Microdosing iboga may support recovery after brain injury

  A new Frontiers case series examined an integrative iboga microdosing protocol in three people with persistent symptoms after traumatic or hypoxic brain injury. The results are intriguing, but very preliminary because the sample was extremely small and uncontrolled. View the case series
  

• 🧪 Estrogen may shape psychedelic response
  A new animal study suggests age and hormone levels may influence how rats respond to psilocybin. Researchers found differences tied to development and female reproductive cycles, adding another reason human psychedelic research needs more attention to sex, hormones, and biology. Read more
  

• 🌌 Mystical trips and fear of death
  A new study explored the link between mystical psychedelic experiences and reduced fear of dying. This remains one of the most profound areas of psychedelic research, especially for end-of-life anxiety, spiritual transformation, and how people make meaning after intense altered states. Open the paper

POLICY 🏛️

• ⚖️ Illinois Senate advances psilocybin advisory board bill

  The Illinois Senate passed SB2772, a bill that would create a Psilocybin Advisory Board. Important distinction: this is Senate passage, not final enactment. The bill still has more steps before becoming law. Check the status
  

• 🧠 Ohio lawmakers eye psychedelic treatment research

  Ohio lawmakers are considering whether to join other states studying psychedelic-assisted treatments, with attention on ibogaine, PTSD, addiction, and veterans seeking care outside the United States. Read more

CULTURE 🎭

• 📊 Five big takeaways from UC Berkeley’s psychedelic survey

  UC Berkeley’s latest psychedelic survey found a public conversation that is becoming more nuanced. Support for research and regulated therapeutic access is growing, but people still have questions about safety, supervision, and what responsible access should look like. See the takeaways
  

• ✝️ What happens when you feel like Jesus after psychedelics?

  DoubleBlind explored a strange and sensitive corner of psychedelic experience: what happens when people emerge from a trip with messianic feelings, spiritual grandiosity, or a belief that they have become a divine figure. Read more
  

• 🎵 Why music matters in a psychedelic journey

  Psychedelics Today published a strong breakdown of music’s role in psychedelic therapy, from emotional guidance to safety, memory, meaning, and the structure of the experience itself. Read the piece
  

• 🧠 How ketamine is changing psychiatry

  Ketamine has already pushed psychiatry into new territory, opening conversations about rapid-acting treatments, dissociation, neuroplasticity, and what mental health care could look like beyond daily medication models. Explore the article
  

• ⚖️ Different drugs, different crime patterns
  A new study explored how different substances relate to criminal behavior in distinct ways. The takeaway is more complicated than “drugs cause crime,” and that nuance matters for policy, treatment, and public understanding. Read the study coverage

🌈 Main Feature

Why does ego death feel like the realest thing you’ve ever felt?

People describe ego death in a way that almost sounds impossible.

They say they lost themselves.
But they felt more alive.
They felt less like a separate person.
But more connected to everything.
They disappeared for a moment.
But somehow came back saying it was one of the most meaningful experiences of their lives.

That question has always stuck with me.

Why would losing yourself feel like the most real thing you have ever felt?

I sat down with psychedelic scientists Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and Tommaso Barba to ask them that exact question, and I loved how differently they approached it.

Robin went straight to poetry.

He talked about William Wordsworth and the idea that early life has this raw, almost divine quality to it. Before we become so locked into identity, roles, assumptions, fears, and the story of “I am this person,” we experience the world more directly.

Then life starts building the walls.

As Robin put it:

That line really stuck with me.

Because maybe that’s the whole thing.

You lose the rigid sense of self.
But you gain direct contact with experience again.

Tommaso looked at it through connection.

He pointed out that the ego is useful. It helps us function in the world, understand our place in society, and move through relationships. But the tradeoff is that we can start to feel separate from everything.

Separate from nature.
Separate from other people.
Separate from life itself.

And then, during ego dissolution, that separation can soften or disappear.

As Tommaso said:

That feels like the part people carry home.

They may not be able to explain it perfectly. They may not have the language for it. But something in them remembers that the boundary between “me” and “everything else” may not be as solid as it usually feels.

That’s why phrases like “we are all one” can sound cheesy in normal life, but feel completely obvious in a psychedelic experience.

It stops being an idea.

It becomes something you feel.

And maybe that’s why ego death feels so real.

Because for a moment, the usual filters drop. The story quiets down. The constant performance of being “someone” gets out of the way.

What’s left is raw experience.

Alive.
Open.
Connected.
Almost familiar.

Like you didn’t become something new.

You remembered something you forgot.

👉 If you’re interested in reading their full quotes and watching the video, just click here.

🍎 New York Needs Your Help

New York is entering a critical moment for the Medical Psilocybin Act.

Supporters say the next week or so could matter in determining whether the bill gets prioritized before the end of session. If it moves forward, it could become one of the most important medical psychedelic access efforts in the country.

The bill would create a regulated framework for medical psilocybin access in New York, with trained providers, patient protections, oversight, and a legal pathway for people seeking this kind of care.

This is not broad legalization, but it opens the door for more people to get the help they need.

It is a medical access bill aimed at creating a controlled system for people dealing with serious conditions and looking for another option under professional guidance.

Advocates are asking people to contact key legislators in both chambers and urge them to prioritize the bill. If you have a personal relationship with anyone in the legislature, that matters even more. A direct message from a constituent, practitioner, veteran, patient, caregiver, or family member can carry weight.

The larger story here is bigger than one state.

New York has the size, visibility, and political influence to send a signal across the country. If a medical psilocybin framework advances there, it could shape how other states think about access, safety, and implementation.

The final stretch is where public pressure matters.

A bill can have strong arguments, strong science, and strong public support, but still stall if lawmakers do not feel urgency. That is why calls, emails, and direct outreach matter right now.

If this is an issue you care about, this is the moment to speak up.

👉 Read the bill

👋 Signoff

That’s it for this week.

“They are moving through medicine, culture, politics, business, spirituality, and personal experience all at once.

The challenge now is making sure the future is built with care.

Not just hype.
Not just profit.
Not just access for the few.
Not just beautiful language around healing.

Real systems.
Real safeguards.
Real research.
Real public education.
Real compassion.

Have a great day!

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