Are Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness the Key to Curing the Collective Chaos of Our Culture?

It’s been a wild start to the millenium. Our nation briefly unified around 9/11, but since then we’ve been on a steady separation of ideologies—a trend accelerated in the last several years by social media, a pandemic, and political figures whose success depends on outrage. Some people, including our Governor Spencer Cox, have called the current era a time of unprecedented polarization, marked by tribalism, fraying democracy, and increased contempt for our fellow human beings. But what if there was a way to reorganize the clutter of our own minds, as well as the collective chaos of our culture?

The medical community is on the cusp of a revolution toward restoring our mental well-being by improving the neuronal balance of our brains. And we’re doing it by learning lessons from ancient societies.

Anthropologists suggest that many cultures throughout history developed methods of changing their state of consciousness in order to improve their individual and collective mindsets. The ancient Greeks participated in the Eleusinian Mysteries. This celebration featured drinking the kykeon, which placed participants in a collective visionary state.

When societies didn’t have access to a consciousness-altering medicine, they would engage in prolonged fasts and breathing exercises. In more recent history, the dedication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Kirtland Temple culminated in a prolonged fast that accelerated group cohesion as they shared visionary experiences.

Today, physicians and psychotherapists are treating patients with anesthetics, MDMA, and psilocybin to induce the exotic states of consciousness well-known to older societies. The results are exciting! We’re on our way toward alleviating depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and many more conditions. Also, we’re on the verge of using these methods for the betterment of “well” people, improving the mental processes in people with no psychiatric diagnoses.

Modern neuroscience techniques are beginning to explain how non-ordinary states of consciousness calm our minds. They induce a high-energy state within the brain, characterized by increased entropy—or free energy. Areas of the brain that normally are not in communication with one another begin establishing connections. When the brain cools down into normal waking consciousness, it does so in a more organized manner, diminishing the fear and anxiety common to so much of our thoughts. In the same way a fresh dump of powder covers old ski tracks, mind-expanding medicines cover unproductive neural pathways, giving us a chance to create new ones.

Here in Utah, we have several champions of non-ordinary consciousness techniques. Christine Stenquist and TRUCE have successfully made medical cannabis legal. Now we’re using it therapeutically for many conditions, including PTSD. Steve Uruqhart, a former state senator, has founded The Divine Assembly, which provides religious protection for those seeking to use plant medicines, such as psilocybin. And doctors are using ketamine and MDMA, produced by pharmaceutical companies, to create therapeutic states of mind.

But what does this have to do with polarization? The answer lies in the experience of non-ordinary states of consciousness. These states give us a clear view that we share more commonalities than differences. We begin to see that we are connected through our shared experience of simply being conscious beings.

For example, a typical patient undergoing psilocybin, ketamine, or MDMA therapy may temporarily lose the sensation of being a separate self. They may have an experience of being connected to all of humanity—and the entire universe. The differences which seem so important to us—political demographic, racial, and religious— evaporate in an instant.

What’s more exciting is that we are developing the appropriate containers to provide these experiences to people. Some of these, like the Divine Assembly, are religious in nature. Others exist in the medical system. Utah has a state-sanctioned process for medical cannabis. Oregon is developing a program to safely provide medical psilocybin to patients (a program Utah would be wise to emulate). MDMA is on the fast-track for FDA approval: as early as 2023. And many medically-licensed ketamine clinics are already operating in Utah. When these legal therapies are administered in a safe, ethical setting by licensed providers, the boundaries of ideology can be eliminated.

Are we ready to let go?

About the Author

Dr. Scott Allen is a St. George-raised, board-certified anesthesiologist. He has specialty training in transplant anesthesiology and currently practices with Mountain West Anesthesiology at St. George Regional Hospital. He is also the medical director of Satori Health, an integrated ketamine clinic (www.theketamineclinic.com). Dr. Allen is the current president of the Washington County Medical Association. With his deep roots in Utah, he has a special passion for improving the mental healthcare of his friends and neighbors in the community. Dr, Allen enjoys outdoor pursuits with his family and communing with nature. He’s doing his best to stay grounded in the moment!

Dr. Scott Allen