In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in media coverage regarding the use of psychedelic drugs. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the development of the psychedelic discourse between 1990 and 2019 using critical discourse analysis as a methodological and theoretical tool. Furthermore, this thesis hopes to explain how Swedish media, and the daily press in particular, has presented the image of the typical user of psychedelic drugs, and if this image has changed over time, by looking at articles and news coverage of the psychedelic discourse. The result of this study indicates that there have been several changes in the discourse, both in terms of how psychedelics and its users are presented in the media, but also in the types of discourses that are used to describe them.

Recently, psychedelic science (PS) has been going through a resurge with a vast increase in publications. Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (PAT) is demonstrating promising results across the treatment of various psychiatric disorders; however, psychedelic science remains absent from the curriculum of both medical and psychology students in Sweden. This study examined medical students' attitudes towards PS, comparing them with psychology students' attitudes, which were previously investigated. The medical students' knowledge and attitudes towards psychedelic science and its therapeutic potential were analysed using a cross-sectional survey study design. Data from psychology students were collected in the spring of 2023, while data from medical students were collected in the fall of 2023. Both datasets were based on a digital survey, Attitudes on Psychedelics Questionnaire, APQ. Multiple Mann-Whitney U tests and a chi-square test were performed across the two groups. n = 316 psychology students and n = 709 medical students answered the survey. Psychology students held more positive attitudes, rated themself as more knowledgeable and followed new findings about psychedelic science to a higher degree compared to medical students. There were no differences between the groups concerning the interests in learning about psychedelics as part of their curriculum, nor the current amount of education in PS they have received. Students who have used psychedelics themselves for recreational purposes held more positive attitudes compared to non-users. This study revealed an unmet request for education about PS from students. We argue this lack of education in PS may delay a future potential implementation of PAT in Sweden.

Recent research studies and clinical trials have suggested that psychedelic therapy with psychological support can offer beneficial and synergistic effects in reducing or eliminating substance use disorder (SUD) patterns and symptoms. However, very little is known about SUD healthcare providers' perceptions of the usage of psychedelic-assisted therapy in SUD treatment. The present study assesses biomedical SUD healthcare providers' perceptions and concerns to better understand potential barriers to the effective implementation of psychedelic-based therapies and formulate further recommendations for research efforts surrounding them. This study collected data through a short survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews from nine participants involved in SUD patient treatment and care. Open discussion was encouraged in the interviews which were recorded and transcribed using the Otter app. Data was analyzed using Charmaz's two-step coding process, which identified common themes and specific issues about translating psychedelic-assisted therapy into clinical application. Four interconnected themes were identified: personal responsibility, patient safety and expectations, a call for further research, and societal structures as barriers. The findings of this study indicate that SUD healthcare providers have optimism and openness surrounding psychedelic-assisted therapy and generally view it as a positive treatment. However, this optimism was often followed by concerns for safety, legality, and the providers' role in this treatment. Participants also expressed a critical need for further research with rigorous clinical trials to explore the effectiveness of psychedelics in a therapeutic setting. The results provided in this study act as basis for engaging with biomedical SUD healthcare providers to address concerns about psychedelic-assisted therapy in future research for SUD treatment.

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yes / Cost reduction through the use of technology has become the competitive strength of companies. The benefits of computer integration are quite credible and have been effective in beating the competition. This paper describes a manufacturing strategy for the implementation of lean systems and the development of an integrated CADCAM system in a Small Medium Manufacturing Enterprise (SMME). Using an end-to-end CADCAM system, organisational change paradigm, and lean philosophy of “minimum effort maximum output”—a system with extensive and completely integrated suite of tools for concurrent engineering, product life cycle engineering, PDM collaboration, and manufacturing planning was developed with the objective of creating a more responsive and interactive manufacturing environment.

Psychiatry is in a crisis. Mental health disorders are on the rise worldwide and there are currently not enough efficient treatment methods that would meet the patients’ needs. Hence, the societal and economic costs of mental health problems are enormous, as well as the suffering of individuals afflicted by mental health problems. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin are substances that create an altered state of consciousness characterized by altered sensory perception and on some occasions, ego-dissolution, and mystical experiences. In recent studies, LSD and psilocybin have been shown to carry significant therapeutic potential in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders in conjunction with psychotherapy. The therapeutic effects of LSD and psilocybin have also been shown to persist for between 3-12 months post-treatment. LSD and psilocybin, like other classical hallucinogens, increase serotonin availability, which has been suggested to attenuate symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition, LSD and psilocybin alter the activity of the default mode network, which has been suggested to be overly active in depressed and anxious patients. This essay is a literature review of the neural mechanisms of LSD and psilocybin, their potential therapeutic effects in the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders, and how insights about said neural mechanisms may be useful in understanding the possible application of psychedelics in the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders. In sum, recent studies have provided converging and convincing evidence on therapeutic potential of LSD and psilocybin. Yet, few conclusions on the exact neural mechanisms of how LSD and psilocybin alleviate depressive and anxiety symptoms can be made. Although the future of this research field looks promising, archaic national- and international regulations continue to be a hindrance to research into psychedelic drugs. Yet, due to the psychiatric crisis and the promising results so far, more studies in this field are warranted.

Au tournant des années 2000, le domaine des sciences cognitives s’est intéressé de nouveau aux substances psychédéliques. Nous constatons qu’un nombre croissant d’études indiquent que l’expérience singulière catalysée par ces substances pourrait contribuer de manière significative au traitement de conditions et de troubles mentaux divers, allant des dépendances à la détresse en fin de vie, en passant par la dépression majeure et le stress post-traumatique. Dans le présent mémoire, nous nous intéressons à une corrélation établie, au cours de ladite « renaissance psychédélique » des vingt dernières années, entre les bénéfices thérapeutiques et psychologiques avérés du LSD et de la psilocybine et un certain type d’expérience qualifié de « mystique » et « océanique » par les chercheurs. Dans notre analyse de la littérature des sciences cognitives publiée entre 1999 et 2019 au sujet de ces deux substances psychédéliques dites sérotoninergiques, nous discernons les fondements, aussi bien théoriques que langagiers, de cette prise en compte de l’expérience de type mystique dans le contexte actuel de la psychiatrie, de la psychologie et des neurosciences. En examinant les études cliniques réalisées aux États-Unis et en Europe sur l’efficacité thérapeutique et les bénéfices psychologiques du LSD et de la psilocybine, ainsi que sur les mécanismes cérébraux sous-jacents à leur potentiel transformateur et salutaire, nous distinguons, au-delà de l’hypothèse, une mise en relation de données quantitatives probantes résultant de l’évaluation psychométrique de l’expérience psychédélique et de l’observation longitudinale des changements occasionnés par cette dernière. En réponse à notre question de recherche, nous détaillons comment les principaux instruments psychométriques employés pour quantifier la dimension mystique ou océanique de l’expérience psychédélique découlent essentiellement du modèle typologique formulé par le philosophe pérennialiste Walter Terence Stace, dont l’approche phénoménologique a facilité l’intégration de ce phénomène, classiquement associé aux traditions religieuses et aux sciences qui les étudient, dans le domaine des sciences cognitives. / At the turn of the year 2000, the field of cognitive sciences regained interest in psychedelic substances. We see that a growing number of studies indicate that the singular experience they bring about could contribute significantly to the treatment of diverse mental disorders ranging from addiction to end-of-life distress, through depression and post-traumatic stress. In this thesis, we examine a correlation that has been recognised in the course of the present “psychedelic renaissance” between the therapeutic and psychological benefits of LSD and psilocybin and a certain type of experience described as “mystical” and “oceanic” by researchers. In our analysis of the cognitive sciences’ literature published between 1999 and 2019 concerning these two (serotonergic) psychedelic substances, we discern the theoretical and linguistic foundations of this consideration of the mystical-type experience in the actual context of psychiatry, psychology and neurosciences. Looking at recent clinical studies conducted in the United Stated and Europe on the therapeutic value and psychological benefits of LSD and psilocybin, as well as on the neural mechanisms underlying their transformative potential, we distinguish, beyond hypothesis, a correlating of various quantitative data resulting both from the psychometric assessment of the psychedelic experience and from the longitudinal evaluation of its outcomes. In response to our research question, we detail how the principal psychometric instruments used to quantify the mystical or oceanic dimension of the psychedelic experience essentially derive from the typological model proposed by the perennialist philosopher Walter Terence Stace, whose phenomenological approach has facilitated the integration of this phenomenon, conventionally associated with religious traditions and the sciences that study them, in the field of cognitive sciences.

Ändamålet med föreliggande rapport har varit att undersöka åtta personliga skildringar för att ta reda på hur deras livsåskådning ser ut efter att ha brukat psykedeliska substanser, samt undersöka huruvida något möte med Gud eller någon annan ”högre makt”, förekom under rusningstiden. För att besvara ändamålet har rapporten brutits ner till två frågeställningar, där den första hanterar vad som händer med livsåskådningen och det andra gudsmötet. För att besvara frågeställningarna har en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med förbestämda kodscheman och analysenheter använts som metod. Undersökningen teoretiseras och stärks dessutom med hjälp av den tidigare forskning som har gjorts på området från John Hopkins universitet, men även med hjälp av teoretiska begrepp som b.la. mysticism, livsåskådning och shamanism. Denna undersökningens resultat stämmer väl överens med tidigare forskning och visar att psykedeliska substanser tenderar att påverka eller förändra en människas livsåskådning till att börja uppskatta andlighet mer än det materiella och att de flesta upplevde någon form av ”högre makt”.

These seven stories chronicle the author's apprenticeship as a fiction writer. Four are written in the first-person point of view, two are in a limited third-person, and one is written in third-person objective. The stories vary considerably with respect to character, tone, and setting; however, all may be said to explore the abjection and isolation of growing up in United States.

We have used a series of observations of HD119419, performed in 2012 and 2013at the European Southern Observatory 3.6-m telescope in La Silla, Chile. These are high resolutionspectropolarimetric observations with coverage in all four Stokes parameters. We performed a chemical abundance analysis of HD119419, in the absence of any being published previously for this star. We used a LLmodels stellar atmosphere code with effective temperature11500 K and surface gravity log g = 4.0, together with the spectrum synthesis code synmast. Abundances were adjusted until the synthetic spectra matched the mean observed spectra as well as possible, and these abundances were assumed to be representative of the photosphere of HD119419. We found good estimates for some Fe-peak elements and rare-earth elements. The abundance estimates were used to compute least-squares deconvolution Stokes spectra, from which we calculated how the longitudinal magnetic field and net linear polarization varies with rotational phase for HD119419. We calculated an improved rotational period for HD119419 using our longitudinal magnetic field measurements together with previous measurements from the literature, determining it to be 2.60059(1) days. We found that the Stokes QUV are unusually strong for the rare-earth elements in HD119419, considering their weaker Stokes I profiles compared to the Fe-peak elements in particular.